Our Janitor
by hurkydoesntknow
Summary: How do you feel when you lose a friend? How do you feel when you lose a family member? How do you feel when you could lose...a Janitor? JanitorxElliot.
1. It starts off like any other day, but

**Hi everyone! Welcome to my first Scrubs story!! This idea came to me in a dream last week. VERY special thanks to Twilight Power for his help!! I highly recommend his fanfiction!  
****Just to let you know, the story will be in several different points of view! First off is in J.D.'s point of view! I know, my writing needs work, so bear with me if it isn't the best. Constructive criticism is always welcome!**

**Note: This takes place in the 4th season. **

**Disclaimer! I do not own Scrubs or any of the characters. It belongs to its creator.**

* * *

It was a warm and calm morning as I rode my blue scooter into the streets on my way to work. I took small peeks at the clear blue sky, illuminated by the early morning sun. I breathed in the wonderful scents of the...pollution from the street sweeper? 

A street sweeper was moving slowly on the sides of the streets, taking in all the leaves, spraying water, and brushing the curbs. It did leave a nice smell, like it had just rained, but the exhaust that was spat out at me was just awful! Lucky for me, it turned on a corner while I headed straight to Sacred Heart Hospital. Ah, yes. The place I work at. Strangely, I work with a lot of interesting people. I'll tell you about them as I go along.

I sped into the parking lot, stopped my scooter, removed my helmet, and walked inside the doors to the hospital, where I took an elevator several floors up. It stopped and I got off managing to catch Turk in the traditional green scrubs as I got out.

"Hey J.D.!" said Turk. "Glad you can make it today! Dr. Kelso's got a secret triple decker cake he ordered that I'm going to sabotage! Wanna help?"

"You know it, Chocolate Bear!" I said gleefully, slapping Turk a high five. "So what's the plan?"

"Well, I bought this chocolate laxative I'm going to sprinkle on top of the cake with, and once Kelso eats it, he's gonna be spending the rest of the afternoon on the toilet!" Turk said, taking out what appeared to be a block of chocolate wrapped in silver foil, but it was rather small.

"I don't believe you guys," said Carla, wearing pink scrubs and a stethoscope around her neck, like she does almost everyday. She shook her head in disdain and looked at something on a clipboard.

"If you guys let him have his cake, maybe then he'll leave us alone," said a familiar female voice behind me.

I spun around and saw Elliot, looking stunning as ever with her blonde hair and her blue eyes.Like Carla, she wore a stethoscope around her neck.

"But you don't understand how fun it is to mess with Kelso!!" Turk explained.

"Okay, everyone, back to work!"said Dr. Cox as he passed by. He can deny it all he wants, but he's still my mentor, no matter what!!

Turk shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I've got nothing to do right now. I've got surgery at 3pm, and Kelso's cake comes in at 10..." he said thoughtfully. "I'm going to hang out here for now."

Dr. Cox ignored him. He stepped into one of the patient's rooms.

"Hey Turk, after that, wanna go do the World's Most Giant Doctor?" I asked.

"You know it, my man!" Turk said with excitement.

I was beginning to prepare to see a patient who suffered from an allergic reaction to strawberries (a pretty bad one. He was covered in hives and had to be rushed here when he couldn't breathe), when I heard brushing sounds. I turned around and saw the Janitor. He always manages to ruin my day. What's it going to be today? Hammering wheels to my shoes? Hanging me by rope with a noose in it? He's _got_ to have something up his sleeve for me today.

Janitor looked up, smiled, and waved at me. "Hey J.D. How's it going?" he asked in a calm, quiet voice. Then, he looked back down and continued on what he was doing.

_That_ surprised me. He never calls me J.D. But I'm sure he has some elaborate scheme to get me today. Where is it? But then, I spotted something yellow on the floor. _Caution: Wet Floor_, it read. That was strange. Janitor never bothers to put those signs up. He likes to watch me slip on the floors and watch me crash. I think I knew why.

Janitor has been acting weird all week. See, Dr. Kelso cut back on cleaning supplies in order to save some cash, and since then, he hasn't bothered me once. Maybe it made him happy. Who knew?

* * *

Elliot's POV

I had gone back to talking things over with Carla, when I noticed the Janitor. There was something different about him. His personality must have gone through some makeover. He's being awfully nice to everyone, and he's putting up the _Wet Floor_ signs. In fact, he hasn't been acting like himself at all, lately.

But as he was saying hello to J.D., I took a look at his face. His blue eyes were looking tired and glassy. In fact, there were small, black bags underneath them. I decided to go talk to him, to see if there was something wrong with him. I'm getting worried about him. Maybe he hasn't been getting enough sleep lately. I hear he occasionally sleeps in the closets here.

"Can you hold on there for a sec?" I said to Carla. I walked over to Janitor and stopped in front of him. "Janitor?"

He looked up and smiled. "Hey there." he said in a tired voice.

"Janitor, are you feeling alright?" I asked him. I noticed his skin was pale and his chest was heaving. No. This isn't from sleep deprivation. It's got to be something else, but what?

"I'm fine," he denied. "It's just..."

I stared at him for an answer. "...what?" I asked.

"Nothing serious," he said "Don't you worry your pretty face, darlin'." And then he went back to his mopping.

I sighed. "If you insist." I said. I began to walk back to the nurse's station when suddenly, a _thud_ sounded. I turned around and saw Janitor, lying unconscious on the floor. I screamed.


	2. Emergency

**I'm back, everyone! Thank you all so much for your reviews!!**

**And now, here's some more to read!!**

* * *

J.D.'s POV

I was done checking on my patient right when I heard Elliot's scream. I rushed out of the room to find out what happened. Janitor was lying on the floor, unconscious. I walked over to him and kneeled down. He must be playing a prank. Maybe this was the big cheese! Mmm, I like cheese! But that's not what matters right now! The big cheese, as in the ultimate prank he's been waiting to pull!

Elliot rushed over to Janitor's side, took his hand, and felt for a pulse. "He's barely got a pulse!" she yelled. "We need a stretcher here, now!"

"Now, Elliot, I think he's just playing a prank, see?" I asked, slapping Janitor in the face fives times. He didn't wake up. I laughed nervously and attempted to shake him awake. "Come on, Janitor! Stop messing around!! Wake up and squirt me with your spray! Throw paint on me! Do something!"

He remained lifeless. I couldn't tell whether he was breathing or not. His chest wasn't rising and falling like normal chests do.

"I don't know, J.D., he doesn't look too good." Carla said worriedly.

"He's got some color in his face!" I pointed out. Well, his cheeks _were_ a pink-ish red.

"Because you slapped him," Turk said, in a serious tone of voice. "Before you did, he looked pretty pale to me, and I'm a surgeon!"

Elliot gave me a menacing look. If looks could kill, I'd already be dead and buried! That was when it hit me. Maybe he wasn't playing around. He seriously needed medical attention.

"We need a stretcher, here, NOW!!" I yelled.

Elliot continued giving me her evil look while Carla gave her some medical equipment. Then, she looked down, slid a tube down Janitor's throat, and put an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth while Carla helped out. Another nurse came with the stretcher, right when Dr. Cox rushed out of his patient's room and saw what was happening.

"Oh my god!" he said once he saw who they were treating, rushing over to help. I stood there, frozen. Dr. Cox looked up and saw me. "If you're not going to do anything, Mary Jane, get out of the way!"

Without a word, I took a few steps back. _Do something, J.D.! Why aren't you helping them?_ I tried to move, but my body didn't want to move. I guess I was in shock on how there is something wrong with Janitor.

I spun around and saw the Strawberry Allergy guy sitting in his room, waiting for his doctor to come. Feeling useless with Janitor, I walked into the Strawberry guy's room.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Dorian," I said to the Strawberry guy. I tried to focus on the patient, but I couldn't stop thinking about Janitor. Was he going to be okay? Will he be better real soon to start playing his pranks again? Will he get better? I thought these as I walked into Strawberry guy's room.

"What's going on out there?" Strawberry guy asked me, taking notice of the commotion outside of his room and not on what he needed.

I sighed. "Well, the Janitor's not feeling well...long story short, he's on the floor and everyone else is trying to help him." I explained.

"Oh," Strawberry guy said in a sad voice. "Shouldn't you go help them?"

"I want to help them, but...I don't know." I said, putting a hand on the back of my head. "Normally,he likes to play all sorts of pranks on me."

"Seriously?" Strawberry guy asked in disbelief.

"Do you know what kind of pranks he pulls on me?" I asked, ignoring Strawberry guy's question. "The most recent one was a week and a half ago, when he set a bunch of peacocks loose in my apartment! Took me a while to get them out of there! One of them pecked me on the hand, see?" I showed him my right hand where a triangular scar was on the top of my hand.

Strawberry guy laughed a little. "Heh heh. Really?" he asked, smiling.

"Yeah. Birds like Janitor for some weird reason." I said.

"So you don't know whether to help him or not because of what he has done to you in the past?" Strawberry guy asked.

Now, _that_ caught me by surprise. I was going to think it over, but then I noticed everything outside the room went silent. I poked my head out the door and saw that Elliot, Carla, Dr. Cox, Janitor, and the nurse were gone. Only Turk was standing outside. He saw me and walked over to me. He shook his head in disbelief.

"Oh man..." he said in shock.

"Turk, what happened?" I asked. "Is Janitor going to be okay?"

Turk ran his hand over his bald head and sighed. "Well, I couldn't really tell. He looks pretty bad." he explained. "Elliot, Carla, and Dr. Cox are treating him right now. The best thing for us to do right now is to go on with our day."

"Do you still plan to mess with Kelso's cake and do the World's Most Giant Doctor?" I asked. That _was_ supposed to be part of our day.

Turk sadly shook his head. "Those are going to have to wait some other day, J.D." he said. Then, he turned around and walked off.

An hour and a half passed by when I finally saw Dr. Cox. He stepped out of an elevator.

"Dr. Cox!" I said, running over to him. "How's Janitor?"

Dr. Cox fumbled with a pen he had in his hand and then put it in the pocket of his white coat. "Well, he's stable right now." he began. "We had to draw some blood and Franklyn's currently running tests on him. Janitor's still out like a lamp, but he's resting in a room right now."

I nodded. I thanked Dr. Cox and went to go find Janitor's room. No point in asking Dr. Cox. He wouldn't tell me where it was. Besides, I didn't feel like being called a girl's name and ranted at, right now.

* * *

Elliot's POV

I stood in Janitor's room, staring at what has become of a cynical man who towered over everyone while wearing his blue-ish gray outfit, moving around the hospital. Now, he's lying in a bed, wearing a hospital gown, while being hooked to machines and having an IV in his right arm. Tears stung my eyes as I watched over him. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"Elliot?" asked a male voice.

I turned around and saw J.D. in the doorway. My anger began to rise once I saw his face.

"You jerk!" I cried with tears falling from my eyes. "How could you?"

"How could I what?" J.D. asked, obviously confused.

"You thought Janitor was playing a joke on you," I said. "You slap him, and you didn't help when he needed you the most!"

"Hey, with that guy, you can never tell if he's playing or not!" he said in his defense.

I didn't say anything. I just gave him an evil eye and punched him in the stomach. J.D. fell to the floor, clutching his stomach and groaning.

"Owwwww, why did you do do that?" J.D. whined.

Dr. Cox walked in, shuffling through some papers on a clipboard. "Well, Barbie, I got the test results." he said. He looked down and saw J.D. on the floor. "Move it or lose it, Miranda!"

J.D. got to his knees and crawled over to a chair, where he sat in it.

"That's better." Dr. Cox said. "Now, like I said, the test results came back and apparently, Janitor is suffering from poison inhalation."

"Poison?" I asked in horror. "How?"

"Well, I don't know," Dr. Cox said in his fake tone of disbelief at my "incompetence." "Maybe he had 5 lbs. of tuna for breakfast, or maybe, and _juuuuusst 'maybe', _it has to do with Kelso making that recent budget cut on the Janitor's cleaning products." Anyway, I've called an investigation of the products by checking the chemicals."

"Investigation?" J.D. asked, who had now recovered from the punch.

"Yes, Chloe, I said an investigation." Dr. Cox continued, digging his hands into his coat pockets. "Since Gandhi has nothing better to do right now, I asked him to take all of Janitor's cleaning supplies to the lab. They're looking at the chemicals in them and running tests on them. For all we know, the chemicals could prove to be fatal."

My throat choked up. Fatal? This can't be happening!

"Lucky for us, there's a pretty good chance of us saving Janitor." Dr. Cox finished taking a good long look at Janitor. "He was only exposed to the stuff for a week. Any longer and he could have dropped dead at any time after that."

With that, he and J.D. both left the room. I stayed and watched Janitor...


	3. Let's give Dr Cox the narrating duty!

**Dr. Cox's fantasy is courtesy of Twilight Power. He's the one who wrote it!! **

Dr. Cox's POV

I sighed as I walked out of Janitor's room and over to the Nurse's Station. Carla looked up from the computer that she was typing on.

"What's the matter, Dr. Cox?" she asked. "Is it Janitor?"

"Sort of," I answered. "But also Kelso. I know he has something to do with all of this."

"Of course he'd have something to do with this," Gandhi said, walking in with two cups of coffee. He kissed Carla on the lips and handed her one of the coffees. He took the other one and sipped on it. "Kelso made all those budget cuts. He got the cheaper, knock-off no name brand of cleaners and gave them to Janitor, taking away all his old ones."

"Oh, wow, Gandhi, it took you that long to figure out?" I said in that high voice of mine when I get irritated. "Because I kinda figured that out right when Janitor fell!"

"I do remember when Janitor kept complaining about the quality of those cleaners," Carla said. "He went to Kelso about it, but he was too focused on eating that strawberry cheesecake."

"Darn mighty good cheesecake, too!" said an elderly voice.

Everyone turned to the entrance and saw Dr. Kelso walking in and holding a paper plate loaded with chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting. It must have been that triple decker cake Gandhi was talking about earlier. He had wanted to trash it with Margaret, but it was forgotten when Janitor needed our help. We all glared at him while he just stabbed his fork into the cake and took a bite nonchalantly.

"What's everyone so uptight about?" Dr. Kelso asked with his mouth full of cake. "Did I miss something?"

"Yes, you did miss something, Bob," I finished for him while crossing my arms. "One of your employees is on the brink of death."

Dr. Kelso proceeded in chewing his bite of cake and swallowing it. "So?" he asked.

Carla's jaw dropped open in shock. Gandhi stared at Kelso with wide eyes. Even _I_ was somewhat surprised, but then again, Dr. Kelso didn't care much for anything but sweets and money. I bet anything that if he could he'd have a ménage-a-trois with the two of them. I was starting to get angry.

"Bobbo, this is what happens when you cut back on materials just to save a few nickels and dimes," I said, feeling my anger rising. "Janitor is lying on his deathbed. Your cutback caused him to suffer from poison inhalation."

Bob didn't say anything. He took another bite of cake and chewed.

"We may lose one of our own," Carla finished for me. "How does that make you feel?"

Bob swallowed his bite of cake. "Well, if he dies, we can afford the old cleaning supplies again _and_ we won't have to worry about being sued by his family because, well, let's face it. He has no family!" he said. He looked to his right. "Now where did I leave my milk?"

He left the room to pursue his milk. I stared at him with an evil glare. "Gandhi, you still have that laxative?" I asked, not taking my eyes off of Bob.

"Right here!" Gandhi replied with glee, whipping the silver block from the pocket of his scrubs.

"Thanks, I'm going to need that," I said, taking it from Gandhi's hand. I unwrapped the silver foil, broke the chocolate into pieces, and sprinkled it all over Bob's piece of cake. I took a step back and looked at it with satisfaction. "He better enjoy this cake while he has it. It may be his last."

"Are you trying to kill him?" Gandhi asked.

"No, you moron." I said, irritated. "If Janitor dies, then Bob could be charged with murder."

"If Janitor dies, then he'll be haunting Kelso for the rest of his life." Gandhi joked.

No one laughed at his little joke. Though it could be possible. But Bob wouldn't care if Janitor died.

"Dr. Cox, I'm as angry as you are, but do you think that that laxative you're holding is going to solve anything?" Carla asked

"Well, we can always do plan "B"," I responded.

"What's plan "B"?" Carla asked, somewhat scared. I didn't respond. Instead, I tilted my head and started to drift away from reality, like Susan did so many times. Oh, god, I'm rubbing off her!

* * *

No POV

Dr. Kelso was sitting in his office, chowing down on his cake more, taking a few sips of milk in between lines when Turk and Dr. Cox flung the door open. "What's the meaning of this?" Kelso demanded.

"Grab his legs!" Dr. Cox yelled. At that point, they both lunged for Dr. Kelso, knocking him out of his chair. Turk pinned Kelso to the floor while Dr. Cox was pulling Kelso's head from his body. Eventually, Dr. Cox ripped Kelso's head off.

"I got it!!!" Dr. Cox exclaimed. Holding it like a football, Cox took started running through the hospital holding Kelso's head. Soon, he was outside of the hospital. After backing up a few steps for momentum, Cox started running at full speed, dropped Kelso's head and kicked it like a football. He then stopped running to see how far Kelso's head had gone. Within ten seconds it was out of sight.

"Wow, that's far," Dr. Cox said.

_End Fantasy. _

Dr. Cox's POV

With the fantasy over I shook my head, looked at Carla and said, "I have to find out how aerodynamic a head is, first."

* * *

Janitor's POV

_Beep...Beep...Beep._

What the hell is that beeping noise and where is it coming from? And why am I so damn itchy? I began to move my right arm so I could scratch my left arm, but something was poking me. I opened my eyes and saw that there was a needle in my right arm, along with a long tube. Oh, no! It's happened! The government kidnapped me and is using me for test experiments! Oh, wait. It's one of those I.V. things. I wanted to pluck it out of my arm, but something, well, someone, preventing me from doing so. I looked to the end of the room and saw Blonde Doctor, sitting in a chair and sobbing to herself. Why is she crying? I hate to see her cry. I wanted to get up, walk over to her, and comfort her, but I couldn't. I was tied down by wires and needles.

I looked down and saw that I was lying in a bed and wearing one of those goofy looking hospital gowns. How did I end up here? Wasn't I mopping the floors a minute ago? But then I remembered what was happening. Blonde Doctor came up to me, asked me if I was feeling okay, I told her I was fine, then the next thing I know, I'm feeling dizzy and I guess I must have blacked out. Is she crying because of me?

"Janitor?" asked Elliot as she wiped her eyes.

I smiled a tiny smile. I made an attempt to sit up, but Elliot stopped me.

"Oh, Janitor, please don't try to sit up!" she said, rushing over to me. "Do you want a drink of water?"

I nodded. She's right. My vision was beginning to blur. I think I'm going to black out again. Elliot picked up a plastic pink pitcher that was sitting on the table next to me, poured out some water into a cup, and handed it to me. I took a small sip and put it down on the table. It did help me a little bit. The dizziness went away.

"What happened?" I asked, feeling disoriented and confused.

Elliot paused for a moment. She walked over to the chair she had been crying on, pulled it over to my bed, and sat down in it. "Dr. Cox says you're suffering from poison inhalation," she explained. "You passed out in the halls outside and we had to get you taken care of. Dr. Cox is blaming Dr. Kelso's budget cut for making you sick."

Kelso. I should have known. Those cleaners were of crappy quality. They were barely able to get the job done right. Kelso only made the budget cut so he could afford this triple decker cake he wanted so badly. He didn't want to pay for it out of his own pocket. Makes me wonder how much that cake cost.

"That was the best seventy-five dollars I ever spent!" I heard someone say. Guess my little question was answered. I looked out the door and saw Kelso, patting on his stomach. He walked into the room and over to my bed. "And how's our Janitor doing?"

I didn't say anything. I tried my best to give Kelso the evil eye, but it was making me a little tired.

"Pleasure to see you, Janitor!" Kelso said, walking away.

I felt my anger rising. The nerve of that guy. Once I get better, Kelso's gonna get what he deserves.


	4. A short chapter to keep you posted

**Hey guys! I am back for now with a new chapter of Our Janitor! Sorry for the long hiatus! I've had hardly time on the internet, since first, my brother destroyed his computer. Then I came back to my home state a month back and the internet at my house is inaccessible. So here I am, at the library!! Thank you all for being so patient with me! Please also thank Twilight Power for his edit! And now, the disclaimer!**

**Disclaimer: Just to remind you all, Hurky doesn't own anything about Scrubs. Now please enjoy the story.**

_Kelso's POV_

By the time I left the Janitor's room I was still rubbing my stomach. No one will ever find out that the cake actually cost 1,200 dollars! Now, where's my milk?

After walking all the way over to the nurse's station I finally found my carton of milk sitting on one of the counters. I picked up the carton, but it felt very light. I groaned.

"What are you looking for, Dr. Kelso?" asked Nurse Roberts, who looked up from her computer screen.

"My milk!" I replied.

"Milk?" asked Dr. Turkelton, raising an eyebrow and his voice a little bit.

I sighed. "It's empty!" I said in an irritated voice. I glared at him. "Weren't you with Dr. Cox just now?"

"Carla sent me to get some papers and junk," Turkelton explained, holding up a small stack of papers and a folder.

"It's 12:00. Shouldn't you be in surgery?" I asked him.

"Don't have one until 3 today." Turk replied.

"Well, anyway, the Janitor's awake now. In the meantime, make yourself useful and go get me some more milk!" I yelled, losing my patience, due to lack of milk. "Ted's nowhere to be found right now. I don't know why." At that point, I stormed off, looking for milk. It seriously shouldn't be this hard to get some milk around here

No POV

Meanwhile, Doug was in the morgue, licking on a cherry flavored lollipop, checking the drawers to make sure everyone in them was in place. Lately, there have been thefts of cadavers to play pranks on people. He opened one drawer to find Ted, sleeping in it.

"AHHH!!" screamed Doug, dropping his lollipop.

Ted woke up and saw Doug screaming and jumping, which caused him to scream as well.

"DON'T KILL ME!!" Ted cried.

"Ted, what are you doing here?" Doug asked, panting for air.

"I accidentally ate the Janitor's chocolate cherry ice cream bar and he said that he would be looking for me today, February 22nd!" Ted explained as he sat up and rubbed his head.

Doug snickered. Ted was bewildered.

"What?" he asked.

"Didn't you hear?" Doug asked with a laugh. "Janitor passed out earlier this morning. He had to be treated for poison inhalation. He's in a room right now."

Ted stared at him with a blank expression. His silence was broken when The Todd walked in and slammed the doorway with his hand. Ted yelped.

"Hey, fellas!" The Todd announced excitedly. "Janitor's calling us over to his room for a Brain Trust meeting!"

"Todd, you do remember that we all have Brain Trust beepers," Doug told him, "why did you have to come all the way down here?"

"Oh, well, someone very near to me died today in surgery and I wanted to pay my respects," The Todd replied.

"Aw, sorry to hear that," Doug said, "who was it?"

"Some hot, blonde chick," The Todd told him. "Is she in here, by any chance?" Todd pulled open the drawer nearest to him to reveal a blonde woman with a tag on her right, big toe. As soon as he saw her, she shoved her back in.

"Wasn't the matter?" Doug asked him?

"Not hot enough," The Todd said, disappointed. "You don't mind if I look around, do ya? Cool, thanks!" he said without waiting for a reply. Doug and Ted exchanged glances of uneasiness as The Todd looked frantically for the deceased blondie.


	5. Elliot's anger and her dream

**Yay! My first chapter off hiatus!! Enjoy!**

_J.D.'s POV_

I stood around at the nurse's station a few hours later, trying to continue on with my day. Everyone around me was acting pretty grim. Carla wasn't barking out orders or gossiping with the other nurses, while Elliot's eyes were red and puffy. She was using those eyes to give me nasty looks. My stomach was still hurting from when she punched me. I figured that it'll just fade as I walked it off. Man, if Janitor never got sick, Turk and I would be doing The World's Most Giant Doctor right now. I have so much fun doing it!

That was when Dr. Cox strolled in with his businesslike manner, stopped over by where I was standing, shuffling through papers in a folder.

"Are those the test results?" Carla asked, finally breaking her long silence.

Dr. Cox nodded. "The test results for the chemicals," he said sternly. "Turns out that the chemicals that the Janitor has been using were banned and recalled in 1997 for making numerous people sick. Even killed some of them. The Janitor should consider himself pretty lucky that we helped him in time. A few more whiffs of this stuff and he could have been dead by now."

A few gasps filled the room with shock.

"Then how did Kelso get a hold of them if they were banned just eight years ago?" asked Carla in a worried voice. **(Author's note: Since this is the fourth season, the story takes place in 2005).**

"Well, my guess is that Kelso found some source that still had some of the chemicals." Dr. Cox continued. "They sold it to him for cheap."

"Then the best things for us to do are to get rid of of the cleaners, do our best to help Janitor, and go on with our lives!" Carla said, trying her best to be positive.

Elliot nodded and walked off to go check on another patient while I left the room to go check on Janitor. Elliot mentioned earlier that he woke up. I was hoping he wasn't awake now. But then my question was answered when Ted, Doug, and The Todd walked out from his room.

"You heard him, Brain Trust!" Todd said.

"Find Janitor's will!!" said Doug, "But where should we start looking?"

"Maybe in the cafeteria or somethin'" Ted said glumly.

They passed by me. A will? Why would he need a will? What does Janitor have that he'll let his Brain Trust have? I looked into the Janitor's room and saw that he was still lying there, with his eyes closed. Maybe he was trying to fall asleep again. _There's no way I'm going in there_, I thought to myself as I turned around and started walking back to the nurse's station. Scratch that. There's no way I'm going to help treat him. Why should I, after all the hell he's put me through?

Suddenly, I bumped into someone carrying a plastic bag with a gallon of milk in it. It was Turk!

"Turk!" I exclaimed. I looked at the milk in his hand. "What's with the milk?"

"Oh, Kelso asked me to get him some milk for his cake." replied Turk. "He asked for a gallon, since he has a huge cake that he's going to eat."

"Is he going to eat the whole thing by himself?" asked a choked up female voice. I spun around and saw that it was Elliot.

"Yup. He should share it with someone." Turk answered. "I don't get it, though. How can someone like me get type 2 diabetes, yet Kelso eats sugar by the truckload and he's healthy as a horse?"

"Well, bad things always happen to good people," Elliot said, with a tear streaming down her right cheek. Why is she still crying? Janitor fainted hours ago! She should have stopped by now.

"Turkelton!" boomed a voice. We turned around and saw Dr. Kelso, stomping in with another slice of cake. "How long does it take to get me a gallon of milk?"

"I had to go through the lunch rush traffic!" Turk explained, handing Kelso the milk.

I looked over at Elliot, who was giving Kelso an evil look. I wonder what she would do right now to Kelso? I tilted my head to the left to find out.

_No POV_

Elliot slid her hand underneath Kelso's plate of cake and smushed it into his face. Then, she kicked him in the nads. Kelso groaned in pain.

"That's what you get for almost killing Janitor!" screamed Elliot.

_J.D.'s POV._

Note to self! Do not eat cake near Elliot for a long, long, time!

Turk's pager went off and he took it and looked at it. "Damn! I gotta go! Surgery's starting up!" he said as he took off. But by then, Kelso and Elliot were already gone. I zone out way too much for my own good.

_Elliot's POV_

That night, I lied in bed, thinking about the day's events. I left work at seven tonight, but before I left, I asked Laverne to keep an eye on Janitor and let me know if his condition goes south. So far, so good. No calls about Janitor. But it makes me sadder, knowing that Janitor is not at home right now, sleeping in his own, comfy bed. Well, I don't know about his bed. Maybe he sleeps on a couch or something. But he's sleeping in a hospital bed, scratchy blankets and all.

I yawned, closed my eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

The next thing I know, I'm wearing a long, pink, flowing gown and I'm walking slowly down some stairs. My hair was all dolled up. I mean, it was long and flowing nicely, unlike how my hair is now, which is all short and shaggy. I looked down and noticed three guys standing there, all wearing fancy tuxedos. Then I realized that I was at a ball. I noticed that people were dancing all in the same way, slowly, and having a good time.

"Dance with me, my fair Elliot!" One of the men said as I reached the end of the stairs. Ugh. It was J.D. What's he doing here? His tuxedo was disheveled, kind of like how most of his clothes are.

"No! Dance with me!" Dr. Cox said as he pushed J.D. aside, causing him to crash into the jazz band. "I'm a _real_ man. He should be wearing one of those dresses, if you ask me."

"Who turned out the lights?" J.D. asked, with a tuba on his head. "I can't breathe! YAAAAA!!" He began to run aimlessly in circles until he fell on the floor. "Don't help me! I can help myself!"

"Well, neither of you is going to dance with her!" said Dr. Kelso, ignoring J.D.'s plea for help. "Because I will!"

"NO YOU'RE NOT!" boomed a loud, female voice. "YOU'RE DANCING WITH ME, BOB!"

"Gotta go! Escaping from Enid!" Kelso said, bolting out the door.

I stood there, debating on whether to dance with J.D. or Dr Cox, but then I heard someone's footsteps behind me. I turned around and saw Janitor, wearing the best looking tuxedo out of all the guys. Kind of like how Beast wore in the Disney movie, but when he wasn't a beast. He smiled at me and held out his hand. I smiled back and took my hand into his. We walked out to the dance floor, where we began to waltz. While we were dancing, I caught a glimpse of Turk and Carla waltzing near us. Carla, wearing a purple gown with her hair straightened out and fixed up, saw us and smiled.

Suddenly, the fancy music ended and the other couples walked away to take a break. Suddenly, Janitor and I leaned in closer to kiss...then there was a buzzing sound.

I opened my eyes and saw that it was the alarm clock, buzzing that it was 10:00. I also realized that I was in my bed, tangled up in my blankets.

"Frick!" I yelled. It was just a dream! I sighed and pulled the covers away. Off to work again! But at least I get to check on Janitor.


	6. Her realization

_J.D.'s POV_

The next day, I had been busy most of the morning with patients. I stopped over with Carla, who was coming back from the lab. She must have been running some kind of test. Probably on some other patient.

"What's up, Carla?" I asked.

"Nothing, really," replied Carla. She sighed. "I just dropped off a blood sample for more tests."

"That's great!" I said, beginning to saunter off.

"How is it great, J.D.?" cried Carla, putting a hand on her hip. "Janitor might have cancer!"

I stopped dead in my tracks. Cancer? How can he have cancer? "How is that possible?" I asked.

"Last night, Laverne reread the test results and said that lead was found in the chemicals," Carla explained. "Lead causes cancer. We're checking to see how much lead is in his blood and if he has cancer."

Then, she walked away. I sighed. What if Janitor really did have cancer? I looked over to my right and saw that it was Janitor's room. He was still lying there, in the same place I last saw him yesterday. He was still asleep, so the room was dark. I took a few steps over to his doorway. Would things be different if he had cancer? Maybe so. Janitor would probably have to quit being a janitor. It wouldn't be the same. _I wonder what would it be like if we got a replacement janitor?_ I thought as I tilted my head to the left...

_No POV_

J.D. was making his way to the exit of the hospital, when he saw a strange man with blonde hair and a mustache mopping the floors. He looked up at J.D. and smiled. "Hi, J.D.!" he said. "Looks like rain today! And you know what that means! If it rains down here, it snows up in the mountains! Say, you wanna go skiing this weekend? My wife and I own a house up in Big Bear! You, Turk, Carla, and Elliot should come! It'll be great! We can have blood orange Italian soda and olive parmesan artisan bread, along with some prosciutto and mozzarella!"

_J.D.'s POV_

I shuddered. Things would be creepy with a new janitor! "The monotony of it all!" I yelled. _What are blood oranges, anyway? Are they oranges with real blood in them?_ **(the answer is that it's an orange with dark red pulp)**

Dr. Kelso, eating another piece of cake, stopped in his tracks next to me, and stared at me for a minute. "Cox is right. You do need some serious mental help." Then, there was this grumbling, sort of uneasy sound.

"Where did that come from?" I asked, wrinkling my nose in disgust at the noise.

Kelso's eyes widened. "Hold this for me!" he said in a frantic voice, handing his piece of cake to me and running to the nearest men's room.

I sighed, dropped the cake into a trash can, and continued to watch over Janitor. Maybe it's instinct to watch over your own kind, because without thinking, I walked more into Janitor's room and took a look at his charts. Carla's right. Janitor _is_ in pretty bad shape. And he might be in even more hot water once those tests come back!

Suddenly, I heard noises coming from the bed. I looked up and saw that Janitor was moving. Then, he opened his eyes and began to look around. I could tell that they were still tired.

"Blonde Doctor?" he asked wearily.

"No, it's Dr. Dorian." I corrected him. "How are you feeling?"

"Still tired," replied Janitor, using his left hand to rub his eyes. "I wake up every now and then, but I keep blacking out. Carla woke me up last night poking me."

"Must have been that blood test that she is performing right now." I explained.

"To find out what? That I have some disease?" Janitor asked.

I hesitated. Should I tell him that he might have cancer? But then I realized something as I looked at his charts on who his doctor was. It was Elliot. It's her job to tell Janitor what's really wrong with him, not mine. And it's not my job to make him even more scared than he probably already was.

"I can't tell you what's wrong with you." I said as I put the chart back in its place. "Elliot has to."

But by then, Janitor was out like a lamp again. I breathed a deep sigh and left the room.

_Elliot's POV_

I walked into the hospital with a smile on my face. Wow. What a difference one dream makes. It's put me in a good mood.

"You seem happy, Elliot!" Carla said with a surprised look on her face. "What's going on?"

"I just had a good night's sleep!" I said cheerfully. I didn't even need coffee. I felt wide awake and ready to take on the day. "So, how's Janitor?"

"I had to take a blood sample last night," Carla explained. "Dr. Cox said that one of the chemicals contained lead, which can cause cancer."

And that was when my good mood disintegrated and I plopped into a nearby chair. Cancer?

"But there's a strong chance that he may not have it!" Carla said, trying to cheer me up. She put her hand on my shoulder, but I moved it away.

Tears began to well up in my eyes. I put a hand over my eyes to hide the fact that I was crying, shoved Carla away, and ran to the nearest elevator...


	7. Janitor needs WHAT?

**Disclaimer: Hurky does not own Patrick Harris O'Neill.**

_Elliot's POV_

I stood in the supply closet, crying. No, Janitor shouldn't get cancer. It just wouldn't be fair. No one deserves to have it. Not even J.D., even though he's such an assface.

Suddenly, the door swung open and there stood Dr. Cox, with his hands in the pockets of his white coat. He had an irritated look on his face.

"What do you think you're doing, Barbie?" he asked. "Are you still weeping over Supercuts?"

I didn't say anything. I stayed silent and wiped my eyes with a tissue I had in the pocket of my dark blue scrubs. Dr. Cox sighed another deep sigh.

"Listen, you're here to work. This isn't the counselor's office." Dr. Cox said, taking his hands out of his pockets and crossing his arms. "You've dealt with patients that were in much worse conditions than Lurch is in and you never broke down and had a cryfest. Look, in case you haven't noticed, you're still his doctor. Tears aren't going to cure your Janitor**,** but medicine sure will. Now hand me those syringes."

I picked up a package of syringes and handed them to Dr. Cox. He then left and closed the door. You know something? He's right. I can't run away from my problems. I have to go in there and do my best to help out Janitor. Even if he has cancer, we can still cure it. I'll bet that it's in its early stages if he has it.

Right then, my beeper went off. I took it and looked at it. It was from Carla! I opened the door to the supply closet, threw out my tissues, and went all the way back to the ICU, where I found Carla leafing through a folder with papers in it.

"These are Janitor's test results," she explained in a lighter sounding voice. "I think you'll like the results,"

I took the folder from Carla. "So soon?" I asked, opening it and taking a look inside it. I couldn't believe my eyes. The word _Negative_ stood out right in front of me. I breathed a deep sigh of relief, but then I felt like we weren't out of the woods, yet. Janitor may need more tests. I don't want to do this to him, but he could have a few more serious risks. This test was just a scare, but there could be others.

"Elliot?" asked Carla. "What's the matter?"

"Carla, I need to run an MRI on Janitor. Make sure nothing is present." I said sternly.

Carla nodded and walked off...

_J.D.'s POV_

I sat in the cafeteria, eating my lunch of a "California Style" sandwich, consisting of turkey, ham, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and avocado, onion flavored potato chips, mozzarella sticks, and a bottle of water, along with Turk, who was also eating the same lunch.

"How's your sandwich, J.D.?" asked Turk.

"Delicious!" I said, taking another savory bite of my sandwich. It was soooo good. It had a cool and creamy taste to it! Kind of like a salad.

"I say this needs ranch dressing!" Turk commented, taking a small packet of ranch dressing and squeezing it onto his sandwich. He piled the bread onto his sandwich and took a bite. He raised his eyebrows as he chewed. "Dude, you should try it with the ranch dressing!"

"You got it, player!" I said, taking the packet of ranch dressing I had planned to use on my mozzarella sticks and poured it onto my sandwich.

Carla came in and plopped down with her own lunch of a California Style sandwich with a deep sigh.

"Baby! Try this sandwich with ranch dressing!" Turk exclaimed.

Carla made a face with disgust. "No thank you. I think I'll just stick with what is already in my sandwich." she said, picking up her sandwich. "I'm so hungry right now. I've been performing all these tests on Janitor all morning and early this afternoon. We ran an EKG and an MRI already, and those took forever to get done. It's hard carting Janitor around."

"You mean he hasn't woken up, yet?" I asked.

"He wakes up now and then." Carla replied. She took a bite of her sandwich and chewed thoughtfully. She swallowed and took a drink of her water. "I don't think he knows half the stuff that's happening to him right now."

"So, who's been taking care of the janitorial work while Janitor's out?" I asked.

"Oh!" Carla exclaimed. "A man named Patrick Harris O'Neill! He'll only be here until Janitor gets well again. He's very nice!"

Suddenly, the same guy from my fantasy came sweeping by with his push broom. "Good afternoon, everyone!" he said cheerfully.

"Hi Patrick!" said Carla, smiling and putting her arm around Turk. "This is my husband, Turk, and our friend J.D.!"

Turk waved. "Hi." he said. "How do you like being a janitor?"

Patrick nodded and smiled. "Well, this is much better than my previous jobs." he replied. "But I do it for the experience. I'm thirty years old and I'm still trying to figure out my career path."

"Hey, Patrick, a word of warning," I said. "Try not to go near the chemicals."

"Not to worry!" Patrick said. "I brought all my cleaners from home. They're organic! No harsh chemicals. I do feel awfully bad for the original janitor. How's he doing, anyway?"

"I think he'll be fine." I said. "We're running some tests on him and they're all showing to be good."

That was when Elliot came frantically running into the cafeteria. "TURK!!" she yelled.

"Woman, can't you see that I'm trying to eat my lunch?" Turk cried.

"How can you think about eating in a time like this?" cried Elliot.

"Elliot, what's wrong?" I asked.

Elliot stood there, panting from all the running she did. "I reviewed the MRI and Janitor has a tumor." she announced.

Suddenly, we all fell silent. Carla's jaw dropped open. Turk sat frozen. I myself was in shock. How can the Janitor have a tumor?

"Elliot, where is it?" I asked.

"It's near his heart," Elliot continued. "I've already made arrangements for a surgery to take place this evening."

"You mean _I'm_ performing the surgery?" Turk cried. "But Janitor has to spend at least three days not eating in order to-"

"Turk, Janitor hasn't eaten in days because he already was feeling so sick," Carla interrupted. "I know, because Janitor didn't eat his lunch for the past few days. And he won't touch the hospital food."

"Lucky for us, the tumor is the size of a cherry tomato." Elliot concluded. "I'm hoping there's nothing else after this. They're currently prepping him for surgery."

Then, she walked off. I still couldn't believe it. The chemicals were so bad that they caused Janitor to get a tumor. I pushed my half eaten sandwich away from me. I couldn't eat anymore...

_Turk's POV, prepping for surgery_

There I was. In my surgical gear and my lucky do-rag, washing my hands like all surgeons do before surgery. But this wasn't just any old surgery. It was an important one. To tell you the truth, I was nervous about it. I have to operate on the Janitor. He's one of the meanest guys in the whole hospital. If you did anything to mess with his work, he'd get even with you so fast, it's not even funny! Like how he got my car last Christmas when he saw me throw some gum-

"Don't worry, Turk, you'll do just fine," Carla reassured me, interrupting my thoughts. "Just relax."

"I'm just nervous, Carla," I said.

"I know. And I'm sure that the Janitor will thank you someday for this." said Carla.

"How would you know?" I asked.

"Because I'll make sure he does," replied Carla. That's right! The only person in this hospital that Janitor is actually afraid of is my very own wife!! I smiled at the thought of it. "There you go!! Now get in there and do your best!"

She gave me a peck on the lips and I went into the OR.

"Are you ready, Dr. Turk?" asked my assistant when she saw me walk in.

I sighed and went over to the sink to wash my hands. "You know it!" I replied. I still felt nervous, but I took a few deep breaths. I normally don't mind operating on regular people. People that I don't even know. But Janitor is someone I know. I've known him for the past four years.

I stared down at Janitor. He was already under the anesthesia. He was totally unaware of what's going on. I didn't know whether to feel sorry for him or to consider him lucky. He's been asleep all this time, so he won't notice that we cut him open and took something out. I picked up my scalpel and took a deep breath...


	8. My out of body experience

_Janitor's POV_

I felt like I was walking around, but no one was noticing me. I don't know what was happening. What the hell is going on? Why won't someone talk to me? Am I a ghost or something? Holy...am I dead? Did Dorian screw up and let me die? Did he finally do his worst and stick a knife in me while I was sleeping? Did he choose to take advantage of me and take out his revenge on me? I may be sick and defenseless right now, but-

"...It's weird to know that the Janitor's having surgery done on him." said Dorian, sitting at the nurse's station. I walked right through Dorian to see if I'd bump into him. "Uh-oh! I need to throw up!

I breathed a sigh of relief as Dorian ran to the nearest bathroom to upchuck his lunch from that afternoon. Okay, so I'm not dead. I'm being operated on...wait a sec!! Surgery? I'm being cut open? What for? It better be for a good reason!

I decided to go over to the Operating Room to spy on Black Doctor. I _really_ didn't want Todd operating on me. I can't trust him. Who knows what he could do to me? He might accidentally drop something inside me or replace one of my organs with something else while thinking about what sexual innuendo he'd say to the next hot nurse he sees.

I noticed that I walked into the door without even opening it. Yup. I must be out of it. Otherwise I couldn't be able to walk through doors, walls, and people.

"Are you alright, Dr. Turk?" asked Dr. Wen.

"Yeah, I am, Dr. Wen," Black Doctor replied. "It's just that..."

Dr. Wen nodded. "I understand. We've all come to know and love Janitor," he said. Wait, they _love_ me? Note to self: Once I get better, be meaner to everyone. "Are you sure you don't want me to help?"

"No, I've got this." said Black Doctor, using his arm to wipe the sweat off his forehead. "I just need to carefully slice it off. I've removed tumors before. I can surely do this."

Oh, great. Apparently, I have a tumor. But where? I walked over next to where Black Doctor was and saw myself lying on the operating table. The heart monitor was indicating that I was still alive. So, he didn't kill me...yet. He better not screw this up! I decided not to finish watching. I left the room and saw that Kelso was walking in the halls. I wonder...

I walked behind Kelso and followed him to his office. He closed the door, sat down at his desk, and turned on his laptop. That was when I decided to try my little experiment out.

"Dr. Kellllllssssoooooo..." I whispered.

Kelso looked up, but didn't say or do anything. He just looked down at his laptop and began to type.

"Dr. Kellllsssssoooooo!!" I whispered again. "Yooouuuuu killllleeedddd mmmeeee..."

"Who's that?" asked Kelso alarmingly.

"Yoooouuuu killlleeeddd the Janitorrrrr!!" I said, stretching out my words. "Youre a murderer, a murrrdeerrrreerrrrrrr!!"

"That's impossible!" Kelso shouted in an angry yet frightened voice. "Janitor's not dead, yet! He's sick!"

"MURDERER!!" I bellowed, ignoring the fact that I wasn't dead. "KELSO'S A MURDERER!!"

Kelso took off his glasses and rubbed his face. "Oh boy. I have a feeling it's those laxatives. I'm going to take the rest of the day off and get some rest." he said to himself as he began packing up his things.

I smiled to myself and walked out of his office. That felt really good. He can hear me! I wonder if anyone else can hear me? I wandered the hospital until I found someone to talk to. That was when I saw Blonde Doctor, sobbing outside the OR.

"Dr. Reid, is everything alright?" asked a nurse who happened to be walking by.

Blonde Doctor sniffled and blew her nose. "I'm okay. I'm just a little worried." she replied.

My smile disappeared. Is she still crying for me? Why would anyone cry for me? I never mattered much to anyone. That's why I don't tell anyone about my family. I never mattered to them, so why should they matter to me?

"Is someone you know in there?" asked the nurse.

"Yeah." replied Blonde Doctor. "A friend of mine."

The nurse put her hand on Blonde Doctor's shoulder. "He'll be okay. I just know it," she said. Then she walked off. Blonde Doctor continued to cry. I felt so bad for her. I wish I could wipe her tears away and tell her it's all going to be okay. Wait a minute! If Kelso heard me, then maybe Blonde Doctor could hear me. I walked over to her and sat next to her.

"Blonde Doctor," I said softly.

She just kept on sobbing and sniffling and burying her face in her hands.

"Blonde Doctor." I said more loudly this time.

Then, she looked up. "Did someone say something?" she asked herself. She wiped her nose and sniffed.

"Everything will be okay." I said. "You don't need to cry for me. Don't be scared."

Blonde Doctor made a face like she was surprised. "That sounds like Janitor," she said as she turned around, but found no one.

That was when the doors to the OR opened and Black Doctor came bursting out with a huge grin on his face. Elliot rushed over to him.

"The surgery was a complete success!" he said with renewed zeal.

Right then, some of the surgical assistants came out through the doors, carting me out. I was obviously still knocked out, otherwise I wouldn't be standing here right now, telling you what was going on.

Blonde Doctor smiled and gave Black Doctor a big hug. "Thank you so much!" she said.

"Why are you thanking me?" asked Black Doctor as he took off his do-rag. "_You're_ the one who found the tumor."

They followed me out and all the way to my room, where they set me up back to where I was. I smiled. Okay, so Black Doctor didn't screw up. He's a good surgeon, I'll tell you that. I don't remember much else after that. I know I didn't wake up. I didn't actually talk to anyone until later on.

_Elliot's POV_

I felt much better after the surgery. It had been a complete success. I sat in his room for hours after the surgery, hoping he'd wake up. I looked at the clock above Janitor's bed. It was 11:00pm. Visiting hours were over two hours ago, but hey, I work here. They shouldn't tell me when to leave. Sometimes they find excuses for me to stay.

Dr. Kelso had gone home for the night due to effects of the laxatives (I'm guessing Turk got to play his prank). During the surgery, he, Ted, and Dr. Cox were arguing about whether Janitor would sue. The surgery sparked a huge debate between the three. Ted said that Janitor was entitled to some kind of settlement, whether it be taken to court or not. Dr. Cox then threatened Kelso that if Janitor sues and he does not cooperate, he will make sure every bakery in town refuses to sell anything to Kelso ever again. "You'll be a sugar deprived old man," he had said.

Suddenly, I heard sheets ruffling. I looked up and saw that Janitor was awake. I smiled and walked over to him.

"Hi Janitor," I said quietly. "How are you feeling?"

Janitor made a twisted face. "Ow. In pain." he replied sleepily. "My chest hurts."

"You were in surgery," I explained. "We did an MRI this morning and found a tumor near your heart. If it got any bigger, it could have killed you. We think it was caused by the chemicals. It was a fairly small tumor. We're hoping that's it and nothing else. We're going to run more tests in the next few days to make sure."

Janitor smiled a weak smile. "Thanks," he said.

I smiled once again. "Get plenty of rest," I said to him.

At that moment, I felt all was right with the world. I really hope Janitor gets better from here on out. It's going to be a slow recuperation, but slowly but surely.


	9. Almost completely healed

_J.D.'s POV_

A week had passed since Janitor's surgery and everything was looking great. Janitor was starting to get better after all the bed rest and the medications. We ran more tests in the course of a few days and nothing else turned up. No risks, no nothing, making Elliot very happy. Lately, she's been showing that she REALLY cares for Janitor. I don't know if anyone else has noticed. Word normally gets around a hospital. She always spends her extra time in Janitor's room and talking to him.

Janitor was also going back to his old self. He was staying awake for hours at a time, was able to sit up, and actually got his appetite back. I also noticed that he also started calling me Scooter again. He lost that ghastly look he had when he was first sick. The color came back to his skin and you couldn't see the dark circles around his eyes no more.

After Carla scolded me for my attitude towards this whole thing, I decided to pay a visit to Janitor one afternoon during my shift and brought him some flowers. I know, it seems corny to give flowers to someone who torments you, but he's been through hell in the past week. I was going to cut him some slack.

I stepped into Janitor's room and saw that he was sitting there, surfing through the channels, looking bored. He saw me and smirked.

"Dorian." he said cheerfully.

"Hey, Janitor," I said. I held out the flowers. "I got these for you."

Janitor's smirk turned into a grin. "Ah. Thanks! Just put them next to the ones Blonde Doctor gave me." he directed.

I walked over to the table and put the flowers in a vase next to a large bunch of colorful flowers that were obviously from Elliot. After I finished, I got a chair and sat next to Janitor.

"So, how are you feeling?" I asked him.

"Better." Janitor replied, turning off his TV, put the remote in his lap, and looked at me. "I just got word that I'll be going home tomorrow, but I can't come back to work for at least another week or two. You ever see the guy they got to replace me? He's a total nut job! He comes barging in here to talk about crap I don't care about. Did you know that he likes live animals? He hates taxidermy and called it evil! There he is, now!"

Patrick Harris O'Neill was over by the elevator, mopping up a spill, whistling to himself. A _wet floor_ sign was standing up.

"Well, I was told he'd be let go once you return to work." I explained. "I must say he _is_ kind of creepy."

"Same here," said Janitor. _Oh my God, he's actually agreeing with me on something? That's never happened before._ "I can't wait to get out of these dumb hospital clothes. I miss my uni!"

I looked to the dresser and saw that his uniform was sitting there, neatly folded, while his boots were paired up on the floor. He was wearing them when he passed out and no one ever went to his house and got clothes for him.

"Isn't it right there?" I pointed out.

"I mean that I miss wearing it, idiot." Janitor corrected me. "What I'm wearing right now is uncomfortable and itchy, not to mention embarrassing."

There was a knock at the door. I turned around and saw Turk and Carla, with big smiles on their faces. Carla was carrying another bunch of flowers in her arms.

"Hi, Janitor!" Carla said cheerfully as she walked over to Janitor's bed. "We brought you some flowers!"

Janitor winced a little bit. You see, Carla is actually the only person in the hospital that Janitor is afraid of, but Carla is mostly harmless when you don't make her mad.

"Relax, she's not here to scare you!" Turk reassured. "So how's that scar?"

"Still hurts, but it'll heal up." replied Janitor.

"Are you excited to go home tomorrow?" asked Carla, who had been the one to tell Janitor the news of him leaving the hospital and going home.

"Of course I'm excited." Janitor replied. "It's bad enough I work here, but it's worse when you have to stay here!"

"I just hope there's no chance of you relapsing," I said.

"I don't think I'll relapse, Scooter." Janitor said carelessly. "I'm nowhere near those chemicals and I will never be near them again. Kelso was fined for using them in the first place!"

"That's the only punishment he got?" Turk said, disappointed. "They should have given him a far better punishment. Like arresting him!"

I tilted my head to the left and began to daydream. _What should they have used to punish Kelso?_ I thought as a dazed off...

No POV

Dr. Kelso was tied down to a chair. He was in a room very similar to a police interrogation room. "What are you going to do to me," Kelso asked.

"Just relax and it'll all be over soon enough," Dr. Cox's voice said over the intercom. Just then, a man with long, dyed, blonde hair walked into the room, pulling up a nearby chair, sitting in it backwards facing Dr. Kelso.

"Harrison?!" Kelso exclaimed.

"Dad, I'm having some relationship troubles," Harrison explained. "See, there's this one guy who's very, very sweet, but he's a bit Neo-Nazi. On the other hand…" Harrison kept on talking while Dr. Kelso was attempting to chew his own arm off like the trapped coyote he was.

_J.D.'s POV_

"Newbie!" said a sharp voice.

I snapped back to reality and spun around to see Dr. Cox, standing there with Ted and Dr. Kelso. He touched his nose and crossed his arms.

"For God's sake, Monica, were you just off in Laa-Laa land?" asked Dr. Cox.

"I was about to," I replied.

Dr. Cox shook his head in disgust. Then, he let out a loud tooth whistle. "Okay, everyone who is not the Janitor, out!" he said. "This means you, Ghandi, Carla, and Kassandra."

Carla set the flowers down next to mine and followed me and Turk out.

_Janitor's POV_

I sat there and waited until everyone left before Kelso closed the door to my room, giving us some privacy.

"We're here to discuss a settlement." Ted began.

"As you know, the chemicals that I had given you were a little off kilter." Dr. Kelso said. "Long story short, I'll give you anything you want, as long as you don't sue this hospital."

I thought for a minute. "Anything?" I asked.

"Before you go too far with your craziness, we will NOT give you surgery to give you gills," Dr. Cox interrupted.

Damn! I was going to ask for that, too! I shook my head. "Nope. One surgery's enough already." I said, thinking of the pain I get in my chest where they had cut me open. Ow. There it goes, now. It's not as strong as it used to be. It's healing, though.

"Have you decided, yet?" asked Kelso as he put his hands behind his back.

I sighed as I thought. "How about a raise?" I asked. "Oh, and I want better cleaners, plus my own massage chair."

Kelso smiled. "You've got yourself a deal!" He said. He held out his hand and I took it. We shook on the deal, making it final.

"Okay, so now that Janitor has agreed not to sue." Ted said.

"Who said I wasn't going to sue?" I asked in a serious voice.

Dr. Cox, Ted, and Kelso all stared at me.

"I'm just kidding!" I said with a laugh. "I know I'm not going to sue!"

Kelso opened the door and stomped out with Dr. Cox. I could hear Kelso grumbling to himself. He sure knows how to put on a facade. Ted just stood there. That was when Todd and Doug ran in.

"Janitor!" Doug said excitedly. "We found your will!"

"You did?" I asked. "I forgot I asked you to find it!"

Doug opened the envelope with satisfaction. "Dear Brain Trust: This is my will and my will is for you to...stay out of my stuff?" he read. He looked up. "That's not a will."

"It is, to me." I said. "If anyone found my stuff, they'd take advantage of it. And since I'm not on the brink of death anymore, that will is useless!"

I took the paper from Doug, crumpled it up, and handed it to Ted. "You eat this. I don't trust this paper."

"Awwwww..." moaned Ted. He took the paper from me, put it in his mouth, chewed it, and swallowed it.Wow! Ted's really that pathetic. Though, it's not at all surprising…


	10. Today's the day!

_Elliot's POV_

It's finally here. Today's the day that Janitor gets to leave the hospital and go home! He just has to spend the next week or so resting and then he could come back to work. We can finally get rid of that creepy blonde guy of a janitor. He sees the world in a weird way. People throw icky cafeteria food at him and he just hums, sings, and cleans up the mess.

I finished Janitor's discharge summary with a smile.

"Hey, I heard the news!" Carla said, strolling by with a folder in her hands. "Janitor's being released today!"

"I know, and I'm excited!" I said gleefully as I signed my name and dotted the i's in my name. "J.D. and I decided to take him out for lunch later today!"

"Where to?" asked Carla.

"We haven't decided, yet." I replied. "I want to go somewhere Italian, but J.D. wants Japanese. I don't think Janitor likes Japanese food."

"Sushi wasabi!" J.D. yelled as he made his entrance.

"J.D.! For the last time, we are _not_ going out for Japanese!" I said in that fast way I say things when I'm irritated.

"Awww..." J.D. moaned sadly. "I was really in the mood for some teriyaki chicken!"

"How about we go this weekend?" Turk asked. He had just come back from yet another surgery. "I'm sure Carla would love to go with us!"

"No way!" Carla said. "Not after what happened last time!"

"Huh. What did happen last time?" I asked out of curiousity.

"J.D. and Turk stuck chopsticks in their noses, trying to be walruses, and one got jammed up J.D.'s nose, so we had to rush him over here." Carla explained.

"I don't remember that happening," I said, trying to remember where I was at the time.

"It was when you were in Germany that one week," Carla pointed out.

"Oh," I said with a smile. I had a very good time in Germany! "_Die Sehenswürdigkeiten waren erstaunlich, und das Essen war gut_!" (The sights were amazing and the food was good.)

"Why is it that she yells every time she speaks German?" J.D. asked, covering his ears.

Everyone else just looked at me cluelessly. I smiled and walked off. I love stumping people like that. I happily sauntered over to Janitor's room, where I found him sitting on his bed, lacing up his boots. He looked up at me and smiled.

"Hey there!" he said. Surprisingly, he wasn't in his uniform. He wore jeans, a white t-shirt, and a plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. I guess one of his Brain Trust guys went to his house and got him some clothes. It was weird seeing him in something other than his uniform. He looked very nice. I felt my face getting hot.

"So, how are you feeling?" I asked, trying to ignore the warm feeling in my face.

"Good, just a little tired." Janitor replied. "I'm just happy I finally get to leave this hell hole!"

I nodded. "I don't blame you for that." I agreed. This place _is_ a hell hole. I spend most of my time here and barely any time at home. At least I have more free time now than I did when I was an intern. I handed him the paper in my hand. "Here is the discharge summary. You're not to return to work until the Monday after this coming one, take all your medications, drink plenty of water, get lots of rest, and try to avoid driving or using heavy machinery until you come back to work!"

Janitor grinned, folded the paper, and put it in his pocket. "I'll be sure to do that." he said cheerfully.

I continued to grin like a Jack-o-Lantern. Carla came in with a wheelchair, with J.D. trailing behind her. He was going to borrow Turk's car so we could drive Janitor home. J.D. was off today, but I was just barely finishing my shift. I've already working 13 and a half hours today, helping out other patients and preparing for Janitor's release.

"Are you ready to go, Janitor?" asked Carla.

"Why do I have to leave in a wheelchair?" Janitor asked. "I can walk!"

"It's so that no one falls when leaving the hospital and they don't sue this hospital!" Dr. Kelso said as he walked in. He put his hands behind his back. "Now Janitor, I've made arrangements for your raise and it will take effect once you start working again."

"What about my massage chair?" Janitor asked as he sat down in the wheelchair.

"I've already ordered it and it's been delivered to your house." Dr. Kelso replied.

"Nice!" said Janitor.

Kelso walked out, grumbling. "Most expensive cake I've ever bought." he said under his breath. I had to laugh at that one. It cost him not only the cake, but a raise, reverting back to the old, more expensive cleaners, and one thousand dollar massage chair.

"Let's go!" I said.

Carla began to push Janitor while J.D. and I followed behind them. A lot of the doctors and nurses all saw Janitor and cheered.

"Alright, Janitor!" said The Todd. He held out his hand for a five and Janitor held out his hand in return, only to have it slammed by Todd's hand.

"Way to go, Janitor!" said Doug, clapping with a cherry sucker in his hand.

"Congratulations, Janitor!" said Patrick Harris O'Neill as he leaned on a push broom.

"Doesn't it bug you that once Janitor gets back, you're outta here?" J.D. asked him.

"That's okay," Patrick said fondly. "There will be another job for me out there. I've already got one lined up! I got a job as a bartender at the Free Clinic! I start in two weeks when the other guy's two week notice is up!"

We just ignored him and continued to walk out the doors and down the ramp to Turk's blue Mini Cooper which was parked in the nearest parking space. J.D. unlocked it and opened the passenger door. Janitor slid out of the chair and into the seat. I folded the wheelchair and started to walk it back.

"Listen, J.D., take Janitor to his house. I'll meet you guys there so we can go to _Il Fumo di Oliva_!" I said. "Just let me change out of my Scrubs and get my stuff together!"

"Okay, Elliot!" J.D. called, revving up the engine and speeding off. I could tell J.D. was nervous to drive Janitor home, but Janitor was always nice to me. He won't bother J.D.

**I don't speak German. I'd like to. I got the German dialogue off of Google Translator. Which I do not own!**


	11. The Smoking Olive

**Hello, everyone! I am back with a shiny new chapter!! Yay!! I know, some of you guys don't really think it's that great, and I understand it. I was in a bad state of depression recently and just recently got out of it, so it took me a long time to write this chapter (and the next one, which will be up real soon). I'm really sorry for the long wait and please enjoy this chapter!!**

**Disclaimer: Hurky does not own Scrubs in any way, but she did base a few people in this chapter from people she knows. And anyone who says Hurky's writing isn't so great must be very good at math.**

_Janitor's POV_

I sat on a bench while Dorian stood outside this Italian restaurant, waiting for Blonde Doctor. She said that she was going to go home and change before she came here. It was already one o'clock and we have been waiting out here for twenty minutes now. Where could she be?

"Sorry I'm late, guys!" a female voice said right when I stood up to stretch my legs.

We turned around to see that Blonde Doctor was wearing a purple shirt underneath a jacket, jeans, and Ugg boots. Her hair was also tied up. Wow, she looks absolutely-what do you think you are doing? Calm down, Janitor. I know Blonde Doctor's pretty, but she can never go for a guy like-

"Come on, Janitor!" said Blonde Doctor, interrupting my thoughts. "Let's go inside!"

She took my arm with both of her small arms and followed Dorian into the restaurant, where a girl with short brown hair wearing a long sleeved white shirt, a pink tie, black pants, and an apron was standing at the reservation desk. "Hi, Welcome to The Smoking Olive," she said in a bored sounding voice. Wasn't this place called _Il Fumo di Oliva_?

"Hiya, Tiffany, we have a reservation for one-thirty!" said Dorian, reading the girl's name tag in his so-called suave voice. If he was planning on looking for a date from her, he just blew it. "We're listed under the names of Dorian and Reid,"

Tiffany leafed through a book on the desk that she was leaning on. She found the name and put her finger on it. "Yeah." she said, picking up a few menus and gesturing her hand. "Come with me."

We followed her throughout half of the restaurant. The place was kind of dark and had beige colored walls. There was some classical Italian music playing softly in the background. The atmopshere was also quiet. No annoying little kids running around, no obnoxious people talking loudly...I think I like this place.

"Here's where you'll be seated," Tiffany said, setting the menus down on the table. "Your waiter will be with you shortly."

Dorian and Blonde Doctor thanked Tiffany as she walked off. "You know, I've never been in here before." Dorian spoke up, sitting in the booth. I slid into the one across from him while Blonde Doctor just slid in next to me. I was surprised. I thought she'd sit next to Dorian, since he's dated her before and they'd recently repaired their friendship.

"I have!" Blonde Doctor said. "I went in here a few times with some friends. You should try the focaccia pizza! It is _so_ good! I'm going to order one up! You wanna try some, Janitor?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Whatever you think is fine!" I said with a smile.

"Ah, so we meet again, Dr. Dorian," said a voice.

We looked up and saw a young man with long brown hair that covered his neck but was above his shoulders and a mustache wearing a white shirt with a red tie and an apron holding a notepad. If you ask me, this kid has a rat face.** (Author's note: Think of the Ratatouille rat, Remy)**

"Lyle!" said Dorian with a surprised look on his face.

"You know this guy?" asked Blonde Doctor.

"Yeah, he was in the hospital over a week ago with an allergic reaction to strawberries!" Dorian explained. I forget that Dorian gets close with his patients. He calls it 'Going the Extra Mile.' I think it's a load of bull-phooey, if you ask me. "So, did you ever find out how you ate strawberries?"

"Yeah, one of my ex-friends gave me Pocky and told me that it was a new flavor called pink chocolate." Lyle explained as he set down a basket of breadsticks. "But she's out of the picture now. She played a mean-spirited prank on me, there. I think she was getting back at me for that one time our friends and I went to Universal Studios and didn't invite her."

"Wow, Lyle, this place must have some good insurance if you were able to get treatment at Sacred Heart and not County." said Blonde Doctor, trying to change the subject. County Hospital is closer, but it has some of the crappiest doctors, treatments, and, if you work there, pay anyone can have. But you get what you pay for.

"Yeah, this is one of the best places to work for," said Lyle. "It took me a year and a half to get the insurance. I've worked here for two years now. So anyway, I'm your waiter for today. Did you guys find anything you'd like, any appetizers or whatnot?"

"Yes," said Blonde Doctor. "I would like to order some sparkling water for all three of us and some focaccia pizza with everything on it!"

"Ah, excellent choice," Lyle muttered as he scribbled on the notepad.

"I'll have the _Cima alla genovese."_ Dorian said.

Lyle stifled a snicker. "Uh, are you sure you want to order something else?" he asked. "Because I've had to try _everything_ in this place when I was hired."

"Why?" asked Dorian cluelessly. "I like trying new things. I don't care if I don't know what it is."

"You don't know what it is...aaaaannnnand you're gonna eat it?" he asked in a nervous voice, writing on the notepad. "Suit yourself." He turned to me. "And you?"

I realized that I didn't find out what I wanted. I opened my menu and saw that almost everything was in Italian. But then I saw the word _ravioli_. That stuff sounds good. I'd rather not risk humiliating myself by getting something gross. Besides, I just got out of the hospital. I don't need to get sick again.

"You know what?" I asked, folding my menu closed. "I'll have the four cheese ravioli."

Lyle nodded as he wrote. He looked up and stared at me for a moment. "Hey, aren't you that janitor who got sick the same day I was admitted?" he asked.

I felt sheepish. That Lyle kid was there when I collapsed? "Yeah." I said, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Ah. Dr. Dorian told me that you play a lot of pranks on him." said Lyle.

I frowned. "No, I don't!" I said. I didn't want Blonde Doctor to think I'm any crazier than I already am. Hmm...Lyle reminds me of another Dorian. He better stay away from Sacred Heart and the doors. He should be fine, though. As long as he doesn't eat any strawberries and put pennies in any doors.

"I noticed that you were still in the ICU the day I was released." Lyle continued. He patted my shoulder. "You looked pretty bad, but I'm glad to see that you're doing much better. Okay, I better stop talking and start getting these orders in before my supervisor comes and yells at me again!"

He took the menus and sped off. Dorian pointed his thumb towards him. "That guy never shuts up. Every time I had to check up on him, he would just talk and talk and talk and talk! I made my intern Nic give him some 'mild' sedatives just so no one would have to listen to him!" he whispered.

"Ah, Nic." said Blonde Doctor with a fond sigh. "He's dating one of my own interns. She's cute as a button with the glasses and all! I just love her personality!"

Lyle came back ten seconds later with three glasses of sparkling water and set them down on the table. Wow, he's quick.

"Yeah, I'm well rested from when I was at Sacred Heart," he explained. "So I've got all this extra energy, which is why I'm so fast."

"Lyle!! Stop talking with the customers or I'll make sure you go back into the hospital!" joked this waiter guy with spiky brown hair, glasses in front of blue eyes, and braces wearing the same ensemble as Lyle and Tiffany as he walked by with a tray of food.

"You still owe me twenty bucks, David!" Lyle yelled back. "I foot-raced him today on a bet that I could beat him. So now he-"

"Shut your cakehole, Lyle!" yelled Blonde Doctor in that quick voice of hers. I really like that voice. "What I mean is, don't you have other tables to wait?"

Lyle looked at his watch, seemingly unfazed. "Well, I guess I'll skedaddle for now." he said.

He walked off. Dorian grinned. "Hey, I think that Tiffany girl's cute. Think I should ask her out?" he said.

"J.D., she's got to be at least 25." said Blonde Doctor, picking up her glass to take a drink. "Plus, she looks like a world class bitch. I mean, look at her face, she looks like she's angry all the time."

"I'm 29, so I'm sure she'd go out with me!" said Dorian. He noticed Tiffany walking by with a bill in her hand. "There she is! Hey, Tiffany, after your shift is over, maybe we could go out to-"

"No." Tiffany said in a cold voice as she quickly strolled by.

Blonde Doctor stifled a giggle. I couldn't help it, either. Seeing Dorian humiliate himself made me want to laugh. "Ouch. Rejected before you could even finish!" I blurted out.

"Janitor!!" Blonde Doctor cried gleefully while playfully slapping me.

"Well, if Todd asked her out, I'm sure she'd slap him." Dorian said sadly. I could tell he was trying to hold back tears. I know he's lonely, especially since he failed with so many girls before, but so what? But then it made me think of Blonde Doctor. If I tried to ask her out, would she say yes? Or would she reject me like that Tiffany girl just did to Dorian?

My thoughts were interrupted by Lyle coming by with another waitress with the name of Alisa on her nametag carting platters of food.

"Hi," said Alisa as she picked up a large platter with a pizza topped with pepperoni, olives, cheese, anchovies, onions, peppers, sausage, and tomatoes and set it down in front of Blonde Doctor. "Here is the focaccia pizza, would you like more cheese on it?"

Blonde Doctor smiled. "Yes, please! I would love some extra cheese!" she said excitedly.

Alisa took a piece of white cheese and began to grate it onto the pizza while Lyle set down a plate in front of me. It was my four cheese ravioli with a white cream sauce, topped with some parsley and shredded cheese. Next, he placed Dorian's plate in front of him, which looked somewhat like thick, oval slices of pimento loaf surrounded by olives, tomatoes, and round slices of mozzarella cheese. Then, he placed a small plate of salad next to it. Finally, he picked up the cheese grater.

"More cheese, Dr. Dorian?" he asked.

"No, not for me, thank you!" said Dorian, picking up his fork.

Lyle turned to me. "How about you? Would you like some more cheese?" he asked.

"No thanks," I said. "I'm fine."

We thanked the two waiters and they walked away to let us enjoy our meal. It was delicious, let me tell you. Blonde Doctor let me eat some of her pizza, which tasted like a submarine sandwich. Reminds me of a time when I had to fight one of the other custodians for one. I ate my ravioli while Dorian happily chewed his cima alla genovese.

"So I take that you like the cima alla genovese?" Blonde Doctor noticed as she finished off her last slice of pizza.

Dorian nodded with his mouth still full. He swallowed and spoke up. "I find it oddly delicious!" he said. "You wanna try some, Elliot?"

Blonde Doctor shook her head. Dorian shrugged and stabbed the last bite of his food, shoved it into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed.

"So, who wants dessert?" asked Blonde Doctor. She looked at me. "How about you, Janitor?"

"Sure," I replied. "But what kind of desserts do they serve here?"

"May I suggest the cannoli?" said a voice. Dorian jumped in his seat while I turned and saw that Lyle was the one who said it. "It's very sweet, but also very delicious!"

"Ooh, let's get some!" said Blonde Doctor excitedly. "You say that it's really sweet, huh? I'll just order up a round of it, then. Don't want to get diabetes!"

No one found the joke funny, but we didn't want to make Blonde Doctor feel awkward. I realized that Blonde Doctor had control of most of our lunch at the restaurant, planning what restaurant we ate at and ordered most of the food. I've heard rumors from Black Doctor's wife that Elliot was a control freak. Wait a minute...did I just call Blonde Doctor "Elliot?" Wow. This little crush has gotten the best of me. It's having me think things I never thought before. I mean, I had a crush on Red Haired Doctor, but she left to go to another hospital. If I really liked her, then I would have gone to the other hospital just to be with her. But I stayed at Sacred Heart. I didn't know why until now. It was because I didn't love her as much as I love Elliot. If Elliot ever leaves Sacred Heart, I will follow her to another hospital. No, that's not being a stalker! That's just how crazy in love I am for Elliot!


	12. Their emergency, her other realization

A week had passed. Janitor stayed at home during that time. J.D., Turk, Carla and I each paid visits to him to make sure he was comfortable and his needs were met. He just asked for someone to run an occasional errand, but still, as long as he's recuperating. It makes me very happy to see him sitting on the couch and watching TV, or even updating his tool box and fixing one of his many drills. The last thing I wanted to see was Janitor lying in bed and feeling just as bad as before.

I stood at the nurse's station one warm afternoon, hanging out with Laverne and Carla with some coffee while talking about our weekend plans. It was only four in the afternoon, but hey, we're doctors and nurses. We drink coffee by the gallon, with our odd sleep patterns that vary throughout the week. There are teenagers out there drinking those toxic energy drinks and no one says a thing. In my opinion, they don't need them since they choose to stay up late every school night.

"...so I'm stuck having to go to that Japanese restaurant with Goofus and Doofus." Carla said, finishing her story of her weekend plans with J.D. and Turk. "I have to babysit them and make sure none of them stick chopsticks up their noses."

"They'll find something else to do, just you watch." said Laverne.

"What could they possibly find-" said Carla until I interrupted her to prevent an argument from breaking out.

"-So Laverne, any plans for this weekend?" I asked, stirring some cinnamon into my coffee. I carry small packages of it with me. Lately, it's been helping me relax with the spicy taste and aroma. Makes me think of Halloweentime. I think of the good Halloweens I had experienced, not that one Halloween I spent being locked in my parents' pool house due to a prank my classmates played on me. I won't get into that story right now.

"Mmm-hm, Lester and I are going to that Italian restaurant over on Creaks Road tomorrow night." Laverne answered with a nod. She was sitting in a chair and had her coffee a few inches away so she wouldn't spill it on the computer she was working on.

"The Smoking Olive?" Carla asked, who was standing next to me. "That place has been open for at least three years, but lately, they've been getting some good reviews."

"All thanks to the _New York Times_ food critic." finished Laverne.

I looked past Laverne and saw Tiffany from The Smoking Olive, walking alone in the corridors. She looked scared, her blue eyes were red and puffy, and her perfectly short hair was disheveled. Her white shirt had a few dirty smudges on it. She noticed me looking at her and she immediately rushed over to me.

"Hi, Doctor, um, I remember that you ate at the restaurant with your friends the other day and I heard you mention Sacred Heart to Lyle." she said quietly as she wrung her black sweater in her hands. I noticed that one of the sleeves was missing from it.

"Um, yeah, is there something wrong?" I asked worriedly. I knew something was wrong. Situations like someone getting sick or hurt bring out a different side in people. Tiffany portrayed herself as someone who was cold and tough, but today, she appeared weak and scared.

"Yes, I brought Lyle over here." Tiffany replied in a quivering voice. "He was shot."

My jaw dropped open. But I knew that I couldn't just stand there. I had to go do something. "Where is he?" I asked frantically.

"He's in the ER. He asked for Dr. Dorian or Dr. Reid." said Tiffany. "So I searched the hospital for you and that slick haired doctor who tried to ask me out. I did find him, but he was too busy being stupid outside sitting on someone's shoulders and wearing a really long labcoat."

_Damn J.D. and his World's Most Giant Doctor! Always picking bad times to do that!_ "Okay, Tiffany, stay here and have a seat. I'm going to go check on Lyle." I said as I began to rush over to the ER. People don't normally ask for certain doctors. You get who you get. But in Lyle and Tiffany's case, it's going to be me, since Lyle liked both me and J.D very much.

A short man with gray and white hair who was dressed like Dr. Kelso (also wearing the white lab coat) poked out of the ER and gestured his hand to me. "Dr. Reid!" he yelled. "You have a patient here requesting for you!"

I caught up to the man and walked into the ER. "Dr. Schwartz, what happened?" I asked.

"We have a 22-year-old man who was shot in the arm over at the Smoking Olive." Dr. Schwartz explained as we walked. "He says that he was leaving the restaurant when two men tried to enter the restaurant with guns in their hands, but he blocked them. That was when they shot him and then the girl outside in the hall sprayed them with pepper spray."

"Were those guys ever apprehended?" I asked.

"They were, thanks to the pepper spray that set them back." replied Dr. Schwartz, leading me to a curtain and stopping.

He pulled the curtain back to reveal Lyle, once again wearing a hospital gown, but this time having his upper right arm wrapped up in dressings. He smiled a tiny at me. I felt a rush of relief to see him only with the dressings. Things could have been much worse, I just can't go into detail.

"We managed to get the bullet out. Any deeper and we would have had to perform some surgery on him." Dr. Schwartz finished.

I thanked him and I pulled the curtains to give us some privacy.

"Hey, Dr. Reid," he said in a small voice. "Where's Dr. Dorian?"

"Oh, he's preoccupied outside." I answered. Right when I said that, J.D. came wobbling by the window (we're on the second floor), smiling and waving his hands.

"Hey, Elliot!" he said with a wide grin on his face. "I'm the World's Most Giant Doctoorrrrrrr!! WHOAAA!!"

He went down with a _crash_ and I could hear him yelling, "You call that being the legs, Nic?"

I snickered and Lyle just continued to smile. "I guess that's why Tiffany didn't want to go out with him," he said. His smile disappeared and he breathed a sigh.

"Is everything alright?" I asked, pulling out a pen from the pocket of my scrubs. "Do you need some painkillers?"

"It's not that," replied Lyle. "It's Tiffany. I've always had a crush on her and she's never noticed. I've been trying to work up the courage to ask her out. I just realized that I could have died today and I would have never had a chance with her."

I put the pen back in my pocket, pulled up a chair and sat right next to his bed. "Well, you're a lucky one. You survived a gunshot wound." I said.

"I was just told that I may have limited use of my right arm, so I may have to leave my job at The Smoking Olive." Lyle continued in a sad voice. "I get to meet the most interesting people there. Like this one guy who plays tennis against his own mother. A real picky eater. You know that he asked for fettucine alfredo with no white sauce? It's not fettucine alfredo without the white sauce!"

I cracked up. The man that Lyle was describing rang a bell. I knew who that was. Mr. Korman, the guy who recently tried to sue Turk. It's a funny story, but I'm not going to go into it right now.

"Yeah, we have a lot of funny people at my work," Lyle concluded as my laughter disintegrated. "And I love everyone at my job. They've been so good to me."

I put my hand on Lyle's good shoulder. "I'd feel the same if I had to leave Sacred Heart." I said. He's right. Even though everyone who works here can be such jerks and so annoying, I still love them all. And they love me enough to keep me here and continue to pay me for the work I do, despite all the screw ups I've done. "I'm going to go check on Tiffany and see how she's doing."

I drew the curtains again and went out to the hallway, where my intern Crystal was giving her some coffee.

"Oh, do you have any hazelnut creamer?" Tiffany asked.

"Yeah, let me go get you some," said Crystal, a girl slightly younger than me with long brown hair, side bangs, glasses, and wore blue scrubs. She walked away. Tiffany saw me as I approached her and sat next to her in the other chair.

"I asked her to get me some coffee," she explained.

"Oh, that's fine. I used to get coffee for people all the time when I was an intern," I said, waving my hand. "So how are you feeling?"

"Did you get any word on Lyle?" asked Tiffany, continuing to stir her coffee.

"He just has a broken arm, he'll be fine," I answered. "But he'll have limited use of it. The bullet hit a nerve that gave him control of it. He may have to quit his job at The Smoking Olive."

Tiffany was silent. "He has to quit being a waiter?" she asked with her voice trembling.

"Well, there's a chance that he'll fully recover from it." I finished. "Don't worry, he'll be fine."

Tiffany looked down at the ground and at her black shoes. "I was going to give him some special strawberry chocolates today." she said. "I ordered them all the way from Japan, but I dropped them when I pepper sprayed those jerks."

"Oh, you don't want to give those to him!" I said quickly. "He's allergic to strawberries. It's how he ended up here in the first place."

"Huh. I thought he had a seizure." said Tiffany. "David told me that, but that's another thing. I like Lyle for so many reasons. He's the smartest, most honest, and the best waiter The Smoking Olive's ever had. He just talks too much sometimes. All the other waiters fool around way too much and act like little kids."

"But they are kids," I pointed out.

"Some of them are eighteen years old, but our oldest waiter is thirty-five and he still thinks he's one of the young guys." Tiffany said before taking a sip from her coffee. "I started off as a waitress about a year ago, and working with Lyle were some of the best times I ever had there. When they promoted me to the greeter and reservation holder, I was reluctant, but it was a higher pay raise. I just stopped getting tips. It was better than walking around the whole day and dealing with old guys who think you're 'such a doll,' whiny customers who didn't want their food to be made with olive oil and people saying that if our restaurant was called 'The Smoking Olive,' then why can't they smoke?"

I nodded. "I agree with you there. You know how many guys I've had to deal with that tried to pinch my ass several times?" I asked, feeling anger rise inside of me. Just thinking about them makes me so...ughhh!!

Tiffany just stared at me with an odd look on her face. I'm used to it, seeing that I always get looks like that all the time, even from my own friends.

"Look, the point is, Lyle may have to quit, but he still wants to see you." I said, trying to stay on the topic.

Tiffany looked up. "What?" she asked in a surprised voice.

"He was working up the courage to ask you out." I explained. "He told me that just now. It makes him sad just thinking about the unthinkable happening and he'd have had no chance to ask you out."

Tiffany smiled for the first time in my presence. She has a pretty smile. "He really said that?" she asked.

I nodded and grinned. "I'm not kidding!" I said.

Right then, Crystal came back with some small containers of creamer. "Here you go," she said, handing them to Tiffany.

"Thanks!" said Tiffany in a more cheerful voice as she took the creamers. Crystal walked off to go do some tests on a patient.

"You sound good cheerful." I complimented.

"Well, I have to put on the cold and tough girl act for a reason." Tiffany explained as she opened the creamers and poured them into her coffee. "I just worry that Lyle didn't like me because of it." She paused. "Hey, are you dating anyone?"

I sighed fondly. "No, sadly, not right now." I replied. Suddenly, I pictured Janitor. I just remembered that he was still at home. I had gotten him some homemade chicken noodle soup early this afternoon. I don't normally cook on my own, but I heard that homemade food is made with love. He smiled at me and thanked me not just for the soup, but for everything I've done for him. He even invited me to eat with him, but I couldn't. I had to get over here as soon as I could. A smile creeped onto my face as I thought more and more about Janitor.

"Really?" Tiffany said thoughtfully. "I thought that tall guy you were sitting next to that one day was your boyfriend."

That took me by surprise. Are people starting to notice that I have feelings for Janitor?

"He's handsome," Tiffany credited. "I say go for him before some other lady snatches him up."

Right then and there, my pager beeped. "Could you excuse me?" I asked, taking out my pager and reading it. Uh-oh. This can't be good. I stormed over to the ER doors and ran over to where Lyle was. He had fainted and was now unconscious. "What's going on?"

"I think he lost too much blood." answered a nurse.

I took a good look at him. His skin was pale and right where his cast was, there was a big bloody splotch. He bled right through the dressings. I opened his eyelid, turned on the tiny flashlight to look into them, and saw that his pupils were dilated.

"He needs a blood transfusion, stat!" I yelled to the nurse while I turned off the flashlight and began to remove the dressings.

She nodded and rushed to get a pouch of blood. I raised his bed a little more, took some gauze, and applied pressure to stop the bleeding...

We were able to stabilize Lyle twenty to thirty minutes later. The blood transfusion was working, since the color was returning to his skin and his pupils were returning to normal. I breathed a sigh of relief and took off my gloves. I asked the nurses to take him over to the ICU and admit him. I walked outside to the hallway, where Tiffany was still sitting outside, biting her manicured nails.

"Tiffany?" I asked.

Tiffany stood up and walked over to me. "Is everything alright?" she asked.

I took a deep breath. "Apparently, Lyle was still bleeding from his wound." I began. "He lost a lot of blood, which caused him to lose consciousness, but we were able to get him back to normal. We had to redress his wound and give him a transfusion, but we expect him to wake up soon."

Tiffany nodded as tears spilled from her eyes. She wiped them away. "I was hoping my sweater sleeve would help stop the bleeding." she spoke up. She unfolded her sleeveless sweater. "See? I tore off one of the sleeves to make a tourniquet."

"It did help him." I said. "I guess the nurses didn't put the dressings on right. They're supposed to take him to the ICU."

Right then, the double doors opened and two nurses carted Lyle out. He was awake.

"Lyle!" Tiffany exclaimed, running over to him. "Hey, how are you doing?"

"I'm okay." he replied weakly as the nurses continued to move him. "I can't really feel my arm and I think I passed out because I don't remember what happened half an hour ago. Where are they taking me, Dr. Reid?"

"You're going back to the ICU." I replied. "I'll check back with you later tonight, okay?"

Lyle smiled and closed his eyes. Tiffany flashed me a smile. "Thank you, Dr. Reid!" she yelled.

I smiled back at them. "You're welcome," I said. "And don't call me Dr. Reid! Call me Elliot!"

"Alright, Elliot!" Tiffany yelled as they entered the elevator and the doors swallowed them up. I smiled and began to walk to the other elevator.

It made me think about Janitor and how I was when he was sick. I was so overcome by sadness and devastation...just like Tiffany was with Lyle. It helped them to express their love for each other. Maybe it's about time that I finally admitted to Janitor about my feelings for him. I realized that I find joy in working with Janitor. I love to see him out there in the halls, mopping up whatever someone either threw up or spilled...he always played a prank on J.D. when he made me mad...he stands up to Dr. Kelso and defends me...maybe those are signs. I'm just worried that Janitor may not be feeling the same way about me.


	13. Janitor's return

The chemical poisoning that had me hospitalized hit me like a dump truck, which is an appropriate term because I felt like crap. After a week and a half, I felt better, and decided to go back to work. I woke up at 4:00 in the morning, thinking, _Today's the day I get to come back to work at the hospital. _I was sick of sitting around my house, bored out of my mind. All the squirrels were gone from the neighborhood-I stuffed them all months ago-and There was only crap on TV. I was annoyed at how many talk shows being broadcast on the same day that all had the same subjects, like a nerdy kid who needed a makeover; or women wanting to know who fathered her kids, and all the dumb court shows that had people suing over destroyed CD collections, or unpaid loans. Heck, one guy even sued his own cousin for crashing his car into his ex-girlfriend's house!

I enjoyed Elliot's company when she came to check on me. She even stopped by with some soup for me, but she couldn't eat with me due to the fact that she was needed at work. Time went by faster when I began to plan out ways to get Dorian. I was thinking about playing a prank on him as a celebratory comeback, but I was having a little trouble thinking about what to do. I could go to his house, steal all the scrubs he wears, and tie them to the flagpole, but then it wouldn't really affect Dorian. He'd just have nothing to wear to work and he can easily get more scrubs. I have to go through a long process just to get myself another uni.

Anyway, I fixed the collar of my blue shirt and took a good, long look in the bathroom mirror. Time to shine, Janitor! Making the big comeback today!! Today's an important day. Not just the day where I return to work, but the day where I finally admit my feelings for Elliot. But how was I going to do it? I couldn't just go up to her and say, "Oh hi, Elliot, your hair looks nice today. By the way, I think I love you." I'd have to find a better way to tell her.

I turned off the light in the bathroom, walked out of my house, closed the door, locked it, and walked over to my mint green van. It was old and beat up, but it was a ride. I fiddled with the large ring of keys that I carried on my belt, consisting of maybe a hundred keys or more. Like I always say: key to everything! I singled out the key to the van, took it off the ring, opened the door, got in, and drove off. As I drove on the quiet, busy streets, I realized that it was still dark. A lot of people were still sleeping, most not getting up until at least six. Right now, it was about 4:45. I was supposed to start my shift at 5:00 and work all the way until 4 this afternoon. I get good hours, like the doctors do. I just don't have much competition to work against. I even make more than Dorian! I make more than he does in one hour of work!

But then several thoughts struck me. _What if Elliot wasn't working today?_ I kept thinking as I drove. I've easily been able to make decisions for most of my life. It's just that this one was so hard. Maybe all the other decisions in the past weren't as important as this one.

I didn't even realize that I had reached Sacred Heart until I saw the familiar building and the lights shining brightly inside. I smiled a tiny smile as I looked at this familiar sight. I was really starting to miss this place. I didn't when I was a patient, but after being stuck at home for so long, I realized that I hated being home. I parked my van, got out and went inside the East Wing entrance of the hospital.

"Welcome back, Janitor!" said a familiar voice as I entered the area where the gift shop was. I don't remember what it's called. I turned around and saw that it was Black Doctor's wife. She was smiling at me and holding a clipboard in her hands. "How have you been? Are you taking the meds Elliot prescribed for you?"

I smiled back. "I'm doing good," I said. "I'm taking the meds." I didn't like swallowing two different pills a day, but I was doing it for Elliot, even if they nearly made me throw up as I swallowed them.

The nurse continued to smile. "I'm glad to hear that. Good luck on your first day back," she said. She turned and began to walk, but I called out to her.

"Carla!" I said, remembering her name. "Wait. Is Elliot coming in today?"

Carla's eyes widened in surprise at me. "Uh, I think she's supposed to start the same time as you." She looked at the small watch on her left wrist. "It's 4 minutes to five. She should be here by now."

Damn. It's already 4:56? I'd better go clock in! "Well, thanks anyway." I said, turning around to walk off.

"If I see her, I'll tell her to go look for you!" Carla yelled to me.

So I clocked in and immediately went to my closet to get my materials. I opened the door and saw that all my old cleaners were there. The ammonia, the disinfectants....I smiled as I began to gather them and put them on my cart. The toxic cleaners I had been given weeks before were long gone. After my cart was loaded, I began to roll it out the door. That was when I noticed a picture of that crazy guy they got to replace me drinking appletinis with Dorian. If I ever see that Patrick O'Neill guy again, he is on my target list, right under Dorian. I pulled the picture off the wall and ripped it to shreds.

* * *

Five AM was getting perilously closer and I was still stuck in traffic, trying to think of a decent excuse for being late for work. "Frick!" I screamed when another green light turned yellow, then red on me. I can't believe stupid old Dr. Kelso! He made me work last night until 8:00 and then told me to come in at 5 in the morning. I had a hard time getting to sleep last night after I stopped for coffee with J.D. Only then, I didn't know I was going to work at 5am. I got a call from Dr. Cox at 9:00 telling me that Kelso scheduled me to work so early. I set my alarm for 4:00 when I went to bed at eleven, but I didn't hear it going off. I guess I was that tired. Or maybe it was also because I was so engrossed in the dream I was having last night. I dreamt that I was in a snowy place where weren't any people, buildings, cars......no nothing. It was a forest with all the trees stripped from their leaves, the pond was frozen over, and it was quiet. It appeared to be getting dark, because everything was bluish white.

I walked around, freezing my buns off. For some weird reason, I was wearing my scrubs but with no jacket or gloves. I crossed my arms, trying to get warm, but no luck. The snow was falling very gently and stuck to my shaggy hair. I ran my hands through my hair to shake out the snowflakes. They melted as soon as my fingers touched them.

"Hello?" I yelled, white steam coming out of my mouth. "Anyone here? What am I doing here?"

Suddenly, I heard the sound of snow crunching. I turned around and saw Janitor, standing right behind me and wearing his janitor's uniform. He smiled and stretched out a hand towards me. I trudged through the snow to get to him, where I placed my hand in his, then he wrapped his arms around me. I began to smile and feel a little bit warmer.

"You'll be safe with me," said Janitor in a voice I never heard out of him before.

That was when I heard my alarm clock buzzing and it was a quarter to five. I immediately got dressed and got into my car with the multi-colored doors. The reason why they were differently colored is because someone had ripped off both the passenger and driver doors in separate times when I left them wide open.

So here I am, sitting at another traffic light. I was doing fine until now. The lights were practically killing me because they were turning red every time I approached them. Oh, why did I take the busier streets instead of the quiet little ones? Lucky for me, this was the last light before Sacred Heart, so I was in the clear. At least Dr. Kelso doesn't come to work this early. I know that he doesn't get here until at least nine, unless someone brings donuts or muffins.

I pulled into the parking lot and saw a green van parked near the doors. I always thought Janitor's van was so cute! I smiled and immediately felt better, knowing that Janitor was here today. I parked my car and got out. It was cold this morning, but it was going to get warmer by noon since Spring was coming and it was March.

I began to walk quickly to the entrance, got inside, practically ran towards the time clock, and finally clocked in. That was when I found Carla shuffling through a folder.

"Carla!" I said, gasping for air.

"Elliot, where have you been?" asked Carla. "Janitor was looking for you!"

That caught me by surprise. "What?" I asked.

"Yeah, the second he came in and saw me, he asked where you were," Carla explained.

"Where is he, now?" I asked.

"He had to go to the janitorial closet to get his stuff. You should be able to catch him," she told me.

"Thanks!" I said quickly and ran off....

Several hours had passed and there were no signs of Janitor anywhere. Of course, I couldn't spend the whole day looking for him, seeing that I had other things to do. I had to check up on all my patients, including Lyle, who was being released today. He was doing much better in the past few days. His boss even came in and talked with him a few days ago to congratulate him for his heroism, but Lyle requested to keep his job instead of leaving it with a disability. So he was promoted to greeter, alongside Tiffany! He also asked Tiffany out once he got out of the hospital. It was so sweet. Tiffany was practically waltzing when she left his room once visiting hours ended last night.

I walked into Lyle's room with his discharge summary to find Lyle already dressed and sitting in a wheelchair. J.D. had not been involved in Lyle's treatment, nor did he even know he was back at the hospital. He was too busy trying to perfect his World's Most Triple Giant Doctor with some interns, but they were no good.

"Okay, Lyle, here's your discharge summary!" I said excitedly as I handed it to him. "Remember-"

"-To take my medications and get plenty of rest," Lyle interrupted. "Don't worry, Dr. Reid, I remember what Dr. Dorian told me the first time,"

Tiffany picked up Lyle's backpack that had his belongings and slung it on her shoulder. "We're going to do the same thing you did when your boyfriend got out of here," she said. "Only we're not going to The Smoking Olive."

"We're going to go to Hikari Japanese House!" Lyle said proudly. "Get some of their famous teriyaki chicken and California rolls!"

I nodded. I know of that place. It was where J.D. wanted to go instead of The Smoking Olive that one day, but I decided against it. I like teriyaki chicken, it's just that I have a traumatizing experience with it. I was once in a food fight in middle school involving teriyaki chicken and I ended up having some thrown into my eyes.

"I probably have to eat it with a fork since I can't use chopsticks with my left hand, yet," Lyle added in a sad tone of voice.

I put my hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Lyle. You'll learn, soon. Just remember that you had to learn with your right hand, first," I said.

Carla stepped in. "So, are we ready to go, now?" she asked.

"We're ready!" said Tiffany.

Carla began to push Lyle in his wheelchair.

I began to follow them until my pager beeped. I took the pager out of my pocket and read it. "Frick on a stick!" I said, putting it back in my pocket. "I have to take this, but I hope to see you guys later!"

"Bye, Elliot, thank you for everything!" Tiffany yelled as she waved.

* * *

I was looking through a folder when Elliot arrived this morning. I knew she had wanted to see Lyle off, but that's hospital life for you. Some doctors don't even bother trying to get to know their patients, but my friends are different. J.D. and Elliot are always making friends with their patients. Though, there are times when they clash with their patients.

I saw Lyle later on that day, as I got into one of the elevators, on my way to the parking lot so he could go home.

"So," I said, as I entered the elevator. "What's going to happen once you go back to work, Lyle?"

"Well, I can't be a waiter no more," replied Lyle. "When I told them I refused to quit my job, they finally let me become a greeter with Tiffany. I get to start next Wednesday."

I smiled. "That's good," I said, pressing the button to the first floor. "It's always nice to work with people you care about!" I love working with Turk, but sometimes there are bad days.

There was a long pause as we waited in the elevator. Once we got to the first floor, we walked out and into the hallways.

Tiffany broke the silence by asking a question. "Carla, you're known for gossip," she said. "Do you know if Elliot and that janitor are together, yet?"

That question shocked me. It almost made me stop right there in my tracks. "What?" I asked. I remember that Janitor was looking for Elliot this morning, but I never thought about why. Janitor did sound like he really needed to see her, and he was disappointed when he learned she wasn't here yet.

"Elliot's been telling me that she likes Janitor more than a friend," replied Tiffany. "She's been working up the courage to tell him how she really feels,"

"I did see him here, today," said Lyle. "He came into my room this morning and nearly sprayed my eyes with ammonia."

"I didn't hear anything about Elliot liking Janitor," I said. I felt a little angry at Elliot for not telling me. She normally tells me everything that goes on in her life. Her hopes, her fears, and when she dated J.D., but she never said anything about Janitor. But suddenly I was starting to get the picture. I remember how Elliot felt when Janitor was hospitalized. She was mopey and she cried a lot. She spent lots of time sitting in Janitor's room, just watching him sleep. When he was awake, she was keeping a close watch on his health. She was always nice to Janitor, so I thought she was in there to keep an eye on him as a friend. How come I never noticed this? Maybe it was because I've been focused on other things, such as J.D. gathering up interns so he could do The World's Most Giant Doctor and helping Turk prepare for numerous surgeries, including Janitor's.

We reached the exit and walked down the ramp. J.D. was standing right in front of it, wearing a really large white labcoat and sitting on someone's shoulders, who was sitting on another person's shoulders.

"Greetings, Carla!" J.D. yelled in a deeper voice. "I'm the World's Most, Most Giant Doctor!"

"You go, Dr. Dorian!" Lyle yelled.

"Krista!" yelled Dr. Cox angrily from the third story window. "Get off the interns' shoulders, stop messing around, and get back in here! You've got patients to look after!"

"WHOOAAAAAA!!!" J.D. screamed as the interns underneath him gave way and they all fell over. It turned out to be Crystal and Nic.

"That's it!" Crystal screamed as she started walking back to the entrance. "We quit!"

"Yeah, we don't want to be The World's Most, Most Giant Doctor anymore!" said Nic. following suit. "I don't care if we work this weekend!"

"Well, then I know of other people who would be glad to do the World's Most Giant Doctor with me!" said J.D. in his defense as he got up and began to walk off, dragging the long coat behind him.

"He reminds me of my boyfriend in high school," Tiffany muttered.

We reached a white car where Lyle stood up while Tiffany unlocked it. She opened the passenger door and Lyle slid in while she opened the driver door.

"Thank you so much, Carla!" said Tiffany. "You and your husband should stop by The Smoking Olive sometime. We'd love to see you there!"

"My husband and I will go there this weekend!" I said, folding the wheelchair and walking away. I've never eaten there, but it doesn't hurt to try it. Besides, Turk made me go with him and J.D. to Hikari Japanese House last weekend, where I had to watch them eat eel. Shivers ran up my spine as I thought of them eating the soft, squishy meat with dark green skin. It's only fair that we go some place that I picked this time.

Once I got back inside the hospital and back to the ICU, I found Elliot just sitting in a chair, thinking and chewing on her pen.

"Elliot, is it true?" I asked.

Elliot stared at me. "Is what true?" she asked.

"That you like Janitor?" I asked in a low voice.

Elliot bit down on her pen so hard that she broke the cap off and ink came gushing out. "What?" she asked, tossing the pen away.

"It's okay, Elliot," I reassured her. "How come you never told me?"

Elliot shrugged. "I'm not sure why. I guess the subject never came up," she answered. She sighed. "I was hoping today was the day I'd tell Janitor how I truly feel, but I haven't seen him at all. I hope he didn't relapse and go home."

"He looked fine to me this morning," I said. "Relax, you're just nervous. I understand. I was the same way with Turk when we were first dating. Do you want to go get some coffee with me?"

Elliot looked at her watch. "Sure. It's lunchtime, anyway," she replied.

"And we could probably find Janitor in the cafeteria!" I said in a hopeful voice. The cafeteria didn't have some of the best coffee, but you could easily find someone there.


	14. The End, Part 1

**Hey, sorry for the VERY long wait. Work and school have been very demanding lately, and with my studies becoming more intense, it's very hard to update or to find the inspiration anymore. In appreciation of your patience, I am dividing the final chapter into two parts. It took me forever to write this! Enjoy!**"

* * *

Frick on a stick with a brick!" I muttered under my breath. There was no sight of Janitor anywhere in the cafeteria. Just a bunch of doctors sitting around and eating their lunches.

We walked over to the coffee area, poured our cups of coffee, and went to the cashier. Carla immediately recognized him as one of Janitor's friends.

"Troy, have you seen Janitor?" she asked as she handed him a dollar twenty-five.

Troy, a man who would look like a biker if I saw him on the street, shook his head. "Nope, can't say I have," he said as he took Carla's money.

I remained silent as I handed Troy my money and sat down with Carla at one of the tables.

"We're never going to have any luck finding Janitor," I whined with a groan.

"Don't give up, Elliot," Carla reassured me, "We'll find Janitor."

Turk and J.D. plopped down next to us with some donuts on their trays.

"There you are!" Carla said to her husband, "Where have you been? Don't tell me you guys have been doing The World's Most Giant Doctor again."

"Relax, baby. I was in surgery until now," Turk said, picking up a jelly donut and taking a bite. "I heard you guys were looking for the Janitor."

"Why would you be looking for that Lurch?" asked J.D., looking frightened.

I forget the Janitor is J.D.'s tormentor. I smiled a tiny smile as I stirred my coffee.

"Because," Carla answered for me. "We just are."

They shrugged and continued to chomp on their donuts.

"I had to amputate a fourteen-year-old girl's leg today," Turk said as he chewed. "She was hit by a car. We had to kick The Todd out of the OR because he kept saying how hot she was."

"That's just gross," I said, wrinkling my nose. The Todd thought anyone or anything was hot. I heard he once thought broccoli was hot.

"They're suing the driver and they're already getting three million," J.D. pointed out. "She was hit by a Porsche, so the driver is very wealthy."

"Damn, she's set for life!" Turk said in awe. "She wouldn't have to get a job, ever! She'll be getting disability, anyway."

"Hmm, I wonder what life would be like if I had one leg and didn't have to work?" J.D. asked as he tilted his head to the side, obviously getting into one of his fantasies.

I rolled my eyes and stood up, while Carla did the same. The nerve of these guys. A girl had to get her leg cut off and all they can talk about is how much money she's going to get? They're not even caring about how hard that girl's life will be without one of her legs.

"We're going to drink our coffee elsewhere," I announced.

Turk waved to us with a donut in his hand while J.D. was still in his fantasy while Carla and I turned around and walked away. That was when I saw Janitor, entering the cafeteria. He saw me and smiled. I smiled back at him.

"There he is!" Carla whispered in a hissy-excited voice. "Go get him!"

I nodded. I began to walk over to him when suddenly, my pager went off. I took it out of my pocket and read it. "Frick!" I yelled and ran off. I was so disappointed because I finally found Janitor and then I get paged right then! It's like people are messing with us on purpose!

* * *

I sighed as I watched Elliot run out of the cafeteria. I just finally found her after I spent the whole morning looking for her. Lucky for me, I was already on my lunch break, so I could have wasted all the time I wanted without being yelled at by Kelso. I took the time to call the Brain Trust together for a meeting. I sat down at an empty table and sighed.

"Hello, Brain Trust captain!" said Doug as he put his tray of food down in front of me. "You called us in for a meeting?"

"I did," I said. "Where are Todd and Ted?"

"They'll be here in a minute," replied Doug, opening his green tea Vitamin Water.

Then, Todd pulled up a chair next to Doug. "Finally here five!" he said, slamming Doug's hand. He whimpered from the pain. Todd ignored it and snapped his fingers.

"Okay, Janitor," said Ted as he sat down next to me. "Sorry I'm late. I was at a disposition."

"For what?" asked Doug.

Ted paused for a long time. "There's no need to go into it," he answered. "So what's going on, Janitor?"

"I made the decision to tell Elliot how I feel about her," I began. "Unfortunately, we keep getting separated. It's like someone doesn't want us to be together."

"You like Elliot?" asked Todd, holding out his hand again. "Alright, Janitor getting booty five!"

I made a disgusted face. "Get help, Todd!" I said. I sighed. "I just worry that Elliot's not going to like me back. I don't know what I'd do if she didn't like me back,"

The three other men just sat there, silent. They had never heard me say something like that. I normally know what to do with anything, but love is a very complicated thing. I've had plenty of experiences with anger and revenge. Dorian was pretty good practice on that. But love was much different. When I was going to school, I couldn't ask any of the girls out because they were afraid of me. Well, at my height and with the angry expressions on my face, I didn't blame them. I do blame them for spreading rumors that I ate pigeons. I didn't eat them, I just stuffed them!

"Well, if you want, we can try to get Elliot in your direction," offered Ted, interrupting my thoughts.

"Can't you just page her?" asked Doug. "You do have a pager,"

"Yeah, but mine's busted. It broke when I collapsed. I forgot to get a new one," I replied, pulling my pager off my belt. I tried paging Elliot, but the screen just went blank. "Damn." I tossed my pager in the trash can next to me and crossed my arms.

"Ah, Janitor," said a voice.

I looked up and saw Kelso, standing there with a muffin in his right hand and a phony smile pasted on his face.

"Kelso," I said with a nod.

"It's good to see you back again," Kelso continued. "So how do you like that massage chair?"

I smiled. "It's like sitting on a cloud," I said happily. It came two days after I was released and I spent some time in it. I realized that I didn't like it as much as I thought I would, since it was mine. It was better when I just sat in one that wasn't mine. I figured I could turn it into one of my inventions.

"Good," Kelso said. "By the way, you need to do a spot mop by the elevators on the second floor once you get off your lunch. Too many gurneys make black marks! Patrick was a good janitor, but he wasted too much time talking to people,"

"I'm on it!" I said. I still think Patrick O'Neill was such a tool. I noticed that he did too good of a job, so that would probably make me look bad. I guess I'd have to work as hard as he did, but then slowly go back to my old routine of doing hardly anything.

Kelso walked off, grumbling to himself.

"Jackass," I muttered.

"Do you really think we can get Elliot to you before the day's over?" asked Ted.

"Relax, we're a team. There's no 'i' in team, is there?" asked Doug, putting his arm around Todd.

"These buns look good!" a woman yelled very loudly from another table. Todd's face brightened.

"Gotta go!" he said, standing up and walking over to the other table.

I shook my head. "Forget it. You guys are useless," I concluded as I stood up and left...

* * *

I was very disappointed and irritated when I had been paged. It stomped over to the ICU where a man was sitting in a bed while Dr. Cox stood next to the bed with a chart in his hands.

"Barbie, this is Mr. Steinmetz. He's from Germany with very little knowledge of English and since you have experience in babbling in that language, you can be his doctor!" Dr. Cox explained, thrusting the chart in my hands. "Enjoy,"

He walked off and I blew the bangs away from my face. I walked over to the patient, who had short blonde hair and an uneasy look on his face.

_"Guten tag, Ich heisse Ärztin Reid,"_ I introduced myself. _"Wie geht es Ihnen?"_

Mr. Steinmetz groaned. _"Nicht besonders gut, Ärztin,"_ he answered. _"Ich habe mit dieser schrecklichen Schmerzen in meinem Magen,"_

After a long look at his charts, it appeared to be an ulcer in his stomach, so I ordered a test for him. I sighed and left his room after I gave a nurse the test orders.

"Hey, found Janitor, yet?" asked Carla, catching up to me as I walked in the hallway.

_"Ich habe ihn nicht gesehen,"_ I answered thoughtlessly in German.

"Huh?" asked Carla.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I was still in German mode! Patient from Germany." I explained apologetically, then my tone saddening. "I said I haven't seen him. I'm afraid I'll never get a chance,"

"Don't say that, Elliot!" Carla said, "We always manage to come across Janitor every single day!"

"Just not today," I said glumly.

"You shouldn't be sad, Elliot," Carla continued, "Just be happy that Janitor is somewhere in this building and he's in several different places, not like how he was a few weeks ago."

I nodded. "I guess you're right," I said. It was better to have him so that I can't find him, rather than going into one of these bedrooms and finding him lying there attached to machines.

* * *

Half an hour after Carla and Elliot left, I was still engrossed in my fantasy of living life with one leg and not having to work when Carla and Elliot left the cafeteria.

"J.D.?" asked Turk.

"Huh?" I asked, snapping out of my fantasy.

Turk sighed. "What was happening in your fantasy?" he asked.

"Oh, I was imagining that I had a prosthetic leg that I could use to freak people out." I explained with a smile on my face. "Then I decided maybe I could have several sets of legs. I could use sexy girly legs to woo bouncers at nightclubs to get in."

Turk gave me a disturbed look. "That's just downright-"

"-Don't get started!" I interrupted and made a slashing motion in the air with my hands. "Nightclub bouncers LOVE sexy legs!"

"Yeah, but on sexy women!" Turk pointed out. "WOMEN!"

"So the rumors are true." said a voice. "Annabelle has truly expressed her desire to go from a little girl to a woman."

I turned around and found Dr. Cox holding a tray with a cup of tomato soup, a few packages of crackers, and a cup of coffee on it. He was giving me a sneer as he stood there.

"Sneer all you want, Perry!" I said. "You can't stop me from having prosthetic legs!"

"I can make that possible." said another voice.

I looked up and found the Janitor towering over me with a mop in his hands. "Let me cut off your legs and we've got a deal. I'll even make you the prosthetic legs!"

I screamed and ran out of the cafeteria. Who know what would happen if Janitor cut my legs off?

_Flashes into fantasy..._

_I was lying in a bed in a dark, unknown place. I recognized it was Janitor's garage, because I saw an army of squirrels and live raccoons staring at me on the shelves._

_"Good news, Dorian!" said Janitor, wearing his janitor uniform underneath a white labcoat (his Jan Itor uniform). "The operation was a complete success! Take a look at your new legs!"_

_I pulled away the blankets and saw that my legs were now Randall's short little legs!_

_I screamed in horror. "What did you do?" I yelled._

_"Oh, I didn't tell you?" asked Janitor. "I gave you a transplant and switched yours and Randall's legs. Now Randall gets to be tall!"_

_Right then, Randall jumped in from the Janitor's right, grinning. He was a little bit shorter than the Janitor, but he was tall alright._

_"Now I can punch people in the face!" he said gleefully. His fist came flying towards me when I heard a voice calling me._

"Tracee!"

I snapped out of my fantasy and saw Dr. Cox glaring at me.

"You done, yet?" he asked.

I looked down at my legs and saw that they were my normal sized legs. I breathed a sigh of relief. "No way, Janitor. You wouldn't give me prosthetic legs. You'd just switch them with Randall's."

Janitor gave me a funny look. "I was just joking, Dorian." he said. "And why would I switch your legs with Randall's?"

I just shook it off and went back to drinking my coffee...

**To Be Continued**


End file.
